Nine Months
by Nika Dixon
Summary: A wildly hormonal ride through a very special nine-month period in Ronon and Jen's lives. Laughter, tears, adventure, family, friends, and of course, the added fun of being in Pegasus. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1 The First Month

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For all the ladies who've been through the completely looney, unmatched hormonal cyclone known as "pregnancy", this is for you. For those of you who haven't yet had the pleasure... enjoy the roller-coaster ride! :P - Nika

* * *

The first time it happened, Jennifer was sitting in the boardroom listening to Rodney's explanation of why blowing up an Ancient research facility wasn't really his fault, since technically it was Colonel "pointy-fingers" who released the highly combustible gasses when he ignored Rodney's don't-touch-anything rule.

Up until the exact moment, Jen felt perfectly normal. Distracted, certainly. She mentally scolded herself for not paying as much attention as she should be to Rodney's speech, but _he_ was sitting directly across the table, all leather clad and muscles. Jen honestly tried very, very hard to concentrate on the meeting. She even shifted her gaze to Rodney to see if it would help, but her eyes slid right back to those bare forearms, and her mind took a brief foray into longing to slide her palms over the warmth of his skin. His green eyes narrowed as they caught her stare and he issued the unspoken challenge with the barest hint of a raised eyebrow.

She tilted her head and accepted.

She was going to beat him at his little game

_She_ wasn't going to be the one who looked away first. Not this time.

Maybe it was the intense concentration she was throwing into keeping herself from blinking… or the fact that she hadn't eaten breakfast, again. Or maybe a combination of both, but either way, something was definitely not right.

The room suddenly felt lighter. The colors brighter. Heat exploded around her. Sounds dropped into a low mumbling murmur and she saw the expression change on Ronon's face with excruciating slowness. He was saying something. Pointing at her. Yelling at Colonel Sheppard who was sitting on her right. Then the room moved with dizzying speed and she watched the lights on the ceiling flare with blinding whiteness.

Sound returned first. Voices. Too loud. Keeping her awake. A dream was floating on the edge of her consciousness and she swam for it, pushing away from the roar assaulting her ears. Her head ached – the spinning pain making her nauseous. Sleep. Needed to go back to sleep.

Uncomfortable. Headache. Noise.

Her body at an awkward angle.

Her eyes focused slowly, and she stared straight ahead at the odd assortment of shapes swimming into focus. Chair legs? No, table legs _and _chair legs. Castors and wheels. The floor? Why was she on the floor? On the floor… in the boardroom? Under the table? She should be sitting up… listening to Rodney… having a staring contest with Ronon.

Her mind slowly registered the details through the haze. Boardroom floor. Lying on her side. Arm under her head, top leg crossed over… recovery position? Recovery from what? She blinked again and let the voices mix with the fading remnants of a dream she could no longer remember. She closed her eyes against the dizzying circus ride ringing around behind her skull.

The voices were arguing about moving someone. If it was her they wanted to move then she was okay with that. She wanted to move. She wanted to go to bed. Pillow and blanket would be much better.

Jen opened her eyes again and with a great deal of effort, flopped onto her back.

The voices stopped.

Everything was out of focus.

Every_one_ was out of focus.

Ronon?

She met his eyes and saw the raw emotion swirling through the deep green. He was kneeling on the floor next to John, and both men looked as though she'd just awoken from the dead. Their faces slid between worry to relief then back again when she shivered, the realization of what had just happened twisting her stomach with dread.

How completely, insanely, you'll-never-live-this-down, one hundred and ten percent embarrassing.

She'd just fainted in the middle of a debriefing.

"Oh no." She whispered with a groan, moving to sit up.

"No you don't." John's voice cut through with a _that's-an-order_ ring, his hand on her shoulder. "You're staying right there until Carson gets here."

"Aye now. Did someone request a house call?" Carson's voice came from behind her, but she was too dizzy to look. "Okay everyone. Let's give the lass a wee bit o' air, shall we?"

Jen felt the vibration in the floor as feet shuffled away, voices hushed and whispered.

"Carson, I'm fine." She muttered, trying once again to sit up but unable to move as both her shoulders were gently pinned to the floor by two different hands. One Ronon's, the other John's. She would have glared but her head hurt too much and she decided to just close her eyes instead.

"Then ye won't mind if I do a wee bit of checking." Carson burr rolled softly. "Seeing as how I don't believe either of these two gents are about ready to let you up just yet."

She was too tired to argue. Too tired to speak. Let the gossip hounds unite. Their CMO had just fainted.

She let her mind and body drift on the edges of sleep. She caught fragments and phrases from Carson. _Fine. Likely exhaustion. Rest._

Yes, rest. Rest sounded like a really, really, good plan.

As Ronon knelt beside Jennifer, his mind fought to control his running emotions. She'd just scared more years off him than a Wraith ever could. He shuddered at the memory of how quickly the color had left her face and the way her eyes rolled back before she toppled into Sheppard's lap.

She worked to hard. Pushed herself too hard. Rarely stopped, rarely remembered to eat, and rarely – if ever – complained. She'd spent too many sleepless nights looking for cures and solutions, putting everyone else in front of herself. He knew why she did it – why she pushed. The biggest part – the part that made him notice her in the first place – was her selfless desire to put the value of life above all else. A reckless innocence in her belief that any life was worth saving.

It was one of the many things he loved about her.

But her desire to heal was also plagued with a childlike desire to be needed. To belong. He'd argued with her, reasoned with her, begged her to see that she didn't need to earn anyone's respect – she already had it. Yet somehow, she couldn't really believe it. She'd spent too many years trying to prove she was just as good, just as smart as her older counterparts that Ronon knew she was never going to believe she'd long ago passed any need to prove herself.

And now she'd pushed herself too far.

Maybe _this_ time she'd finally listen to reason.

"Okay lass." Carson said quietly, and Jen's eyes fluttered open. "I'm ordering you to a full night's rest, and you're to take tomorrow off. No arguments or I'll be forced to enlist the big-man here to keep you in your quarters."

Jen nodded, the edge of her mouth quirking into a smile. Carson's words might have carried more weight if he'd threatened to keep Ronon _out_ of her quarters. Because right now, all she wanted was bed, and her Satedan teddy bear.

"Let's get you up… slowly now… and-"

"No." Ronon's growl cut Carson off. Without waiting for an answer he scooped Jen up and ignoring the onlookers, left the boardroom.

"I…" Carson blinked. "Well I guess that will work, too."

* * *

The second time it happened, Captain Doyle firmly believed his life and career had just come to an end as he dialed the gate, because it went without saying that the Atlantis CMO was under the direct protection of SGA-1 and anyone who failed her pretty much had to face the four horsemen. Colonel Sheppard, who was his CO and had the power to end careers; Ronon, who would could kill him half a dozen ways before Doyle could blink; Teyla, who even after having a child could _still_ kick his ass across the galaxy; and McKay, who despite his nerdy brain, could make anyone's life a living hell if so motivated.

Taking a deep breath, Captain Doyle dialed the DHD and as calmly and succinctly as possible, informed the Atlantis control room their CMO was currently lying unconscious in a field of daisies and could they please send a jumper.

Jen had been talking to a group of tribal women on M3X-158 about a tea made from local wildflowers which provided a fantastically quick cure for a headache. It was a simple mission – a few hours. Meet the elderly women, pick up some flowers, come home.

But after placing several beautifully scented buds, complete with stems and roots into a sealed container, she stood up.

And that was that.

When she opened her eyes this time she was staring at a sunny field full of colorful flowers, and three very anxious looking Marines. Give them a hoard of gun wielding villagers and they were in complete control. Throw a fainting woman at their feet it was a confused pile of _oh-crap-now-what_? And of course, Captain Doyle had already run for help instead of just waiting. Now she was oh-for-two. She'd just passed out – and of course she;d forgotten to eat breakfast - again. It wasn't as though she'd had a giant bug attached to her neck. Did he have to immediately rush of and blab to everyone in the control room she'd fainted again? They were going to think she was definitely a week bodied ninny now. Two episodes in as many weeks.

As her mind returned she was eventually able to instruct the three lost souls to help her into the shade, a feat which proved more troublesome that originally intended because her legs just wouldn't work, so Lieutenant Bormann had to carry her.

Once safely bedded down in the grass, with a three point guard, she gave into the urge to sleep.

Warm fingers caressing her cheek brought her out of her doze and she smiled before her eyes opened.

"Hey." Ronon said softly, his eyes assessing her with concern.

"Hey." She whispered. "Fancy meeting you here."

"You okay?"

She nodded. "Just… embarrassed. And really tired." She glanced past him hopefully. "Please tell me it's just you?"

"Sheppard's getting soft. He brought a jumper." He grinned, but she could see the smile didn't quite meet his eyes. He scooped her up so she could see the jumper sitting at the bottom of the small rise.

"Taxi's here." John said, stepping up beside them. "You okay, Doc?"

She nodded, shifting her grip around Ronon's neck while they moved down the hill. "I'm fine. I just… stood up to fast. Probably shouldn't have skipped breakfast."

The Colonel gave her a look that said he didn't believe a word of it.

Carson's round of tests proved nothing other than she was perfectly fine except for slightly low levels of blood sugar.

So he ordered her to go eat something.

* * *

The third time it happened, Jen was pretty sure she hadn't been sleeping in her office, but judging from the position of desk chair, overturned and lying in the corner, and the fact that she was lying on the cold floor next to her filing cabinet, she'd gone and done it again.

Thank goodness she was working alone and it was well after hours. No need to add any more fuel to the fire. It was bad enough her staff had taken to throwing pillows on the floor every time she walked into a room, the Marines wouldn't stop ribbing her about an aversion to blood and needles, and every debriefing now involved her being sandwiched tightly between John and Ronon just incase she decided to '_do it again_'.

This time, at least, she didn't have an audience.

But the urge to call Ronon to come carry her back to her room was really, really, really tempting.

It took several attempts to force herself upright, and several more to get to her feet. Leaning on the wall for support, and praying for an empty hallway, Jen shuffled her way into the empty corridor.

She nearly fell over in the transporter, and twice more on the way through the crew quarters, but finally reached her door without losing her footing all together.

Her bed called to her and she collapsed onto the pillow without bothering to remove her clothes, or her boots.

As she drifted off to sleep, worry surfaced through the fog.

Something was definitely wrong…

Panicked thoughts of disease and pathogens swirled through the haze of almost-sleep. Then right before she finally succumbed, she smiled into her pillow.

Wouldn't it be funny if she was pregnant?

Thank goodness Carson had already ruled that out.

Sleep called her as the last thought whispered through her sub-conscious.

_He had tested her, hadn't he?_


	2. Chapter 2

"You're what?!" Laura Cadman exclaimed, then immediately clamped her hand over her mouth as she stumbled behind Jennifer.

Jen tugged the Lieutenant into the empty lab and locked the door. "I'm late." She hissed, her voice quiet even though the closed area was completely empty. It was well after midnight and the regular staff was gone. Not that anyone required use of the bio-scanner on a normal basis. But it was good to be cautious.

"Late." Laura blinked. "Late as in…" She raised both eyebrows and looked down at Jen's midriff.

"Yes." Jen exhaled. "Late!"

"Shit!" Laura cursed, then her eyes snapped up to Jen's face. "I mean… not shit… as in bad… it's not… I mean… um… yay?" She held her hands up and grimaced.

Jen rolled her eyes and moved quickly to the Ancient scanner. "Just get your ass over here and help me."

"I guess that explains all the fainting…" Laura sidled up beside her and stared at the computer console.

"It does not!" Jen exclaimed. "I told you! I just forget to eat breakfast!"

"And you just keep telling yourself that…" Laura mumbled under her breath.

"What?!" Jen spun around and glared.

"Nothing…" Laura frowned. "So… if you're not pregnant… what are we doing?"

"Double checking." Jen adjusted the controls and set the depth of the scan.

"Double checking you are… or… you aren't?"

"Either or."

"Can't you just… pee on a stick?"

Jen sighed and dropped her shoulders, turning her head to glare at Laura. "I did."

"And?"

"They all came back negative."

"All? How many did you do?"

Jen mumbled, and Laura leaned closer. "Pardon?"

"Ten!" Jen practically shouted. "I did ten okay! Happy now!"

Laura blinked. "Okaaaaaay. And they all came back negative... so you're _not_ pregnant?"

"No."

"Then…"

"I… just want to be sure, okay?!"

"When did you take the test? Tests?"

"Three weeks ago. After the-"

"Boardroom incident?" Laura finished.

"Yeah." Jen nodded and pointed to a large red button. "Push this when I say." She moved quickly around the scanner.

"Okay so let me get this straight. You're late… but you've already peed on a dozen sticks… which tells you that you're not pregnant… yet you still want to scan yourself?"

"Yes." Jen said, hopping up onto the scanner bed and laying flat on her back. Adjusting herself slightly she stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm so confused."

"Oh for god's sake! I'm completely exhausted all the time, I've passed out three times in the last three weeks, my breasts are tender, the mere thought of greasy food makes me want to barf, and I'm three weeks late." Jen wailed, sitting back up and nearly whacking her head on the overhead arm of the scanner. "I'm never late! Right as rain. Tuesday morning by 11am, no fail!" She stared across the lab at her friend.

"And hormonal." Laura nodded knowingly.

"I am _not_ hormonal!" Jen exclaimed loudly, flinging her hands into the air and slamming her palms down on the sides of the scanner bed.

"Then why are you shouting?"

"I…" Jen clamped her mouth shut and exhaled sharply.

Laura tisked and shook her head slowly, then nodded. "Definitely pregnant."

"Thank you, Doctor Cadman!" Jen muttered, and flopped back down onto the scanner. "Now would you just push the damn button!"

* * *

"Fuck." Jen cursed, staring at the screen. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Yeah I think that's pretty much what got you here in the first place." Laura nodded.

"Do it again." Jen ordered, moving away. She stopped only because Laura clamped her hand down on her wrist.

"We've done it three times already." Laura said softly. "It's not going to change."

Jen's heart wouldn't slow down, and all she could think of was that there had to be something off on the machine. Calibration, depth, some setting that was messing with the bio readings. It couldn't be. _She_ couldn't be. They'd… they'd always been careful… hadn't they? Well there'd been that one time… and that other time… but it couldn't have been then…

_Pregnant?_

Her whispered word hung in the air between them and she wobbled.

"Oh no you don't…" Laura grabbed her arms and shoved her down into an empty chair against the wall. "Head between your knees…"

Jen folded herself over, squeezing her eyes shut. Her head swam and she took a slow, deep breath. "I _don't_ faint."

"Uh-huh." Laura's voice lowered as the Lieutenant squatted on the floor in front of her. "Like you didn't faint in the boardroom, and then in the flowers, and then again a third time somewhere else… was it?"

"My office." Jen muttered, her head skipping through every possible scenario. "I didn't tell anyone."

"Of course not." Laura moved away and Jen looked up, then instantly regretted the motion.

"Head down." Laura ordered from across the room.

"I can't be pregnant." Jen chanted, dropping her head between her knees, ignoring the sound of running water. "I can't be pregnant."

Laura returned and brushed Jen's hair away from the back of her neck. A cold press of cloth landed against Jen's skin and she flinched, then welcomed the cooling distraction. She reached up and clamped her own hand over the cloth, grasping to have control of something – anything – in such a wildly out of control situation.

"I take it that ah… Ronon is… um…" Laura's question hung in the air.

Jen tried to lift her head but Laura immediately shoved her back down.

"Just asking." Laura said firmly. "Just asking."

"Oh god, Laura." Jen slipped the cloth off her neck and plastered it against her forehead. "What am I going to do?"

"Um… well, if memory serves, you're going to blow up like a balloon then in about 9 months, push a turkey out."

"I can't…." Jen whispered. "I can't… I can't be."

"You are."

"Oh god, oh god, oh god."

"Look…" Laura stood up. "You want me to call Ronon?"

"No!" Jen's fingers dug sharply into Laura's wrist. "No! God no!"

"It's going to be kinda hard to hide…"

"I… can't tell him." Jen wailed, burying her face in the wet cloth. "I can't..."

"You're not thinking of… you know…" Laura asked after a moment's silence.

Jen rocked her head and glanced at her friend, who was squatting beside the chair. "Thinking of what?"

Laura made a face. "You know… thinking of… ending… it."

"God no!" Jen's head snapped up and the room wavered and blurred.

Laura leapt up and shoved her head back down. "Breathe, Keller. Breathe."

"I just…" Jen muttered into the palms of her hands, the creeping edges of a headache spiking up through the back of her neck and into her skull. "I can't tell him. We never talked about it. What would he say? What if he doesn't want it? What if he freaks out? What if he leaves? Blames me? Thinks I'm doing it to trap him? What if-"

"Good lord, woman!" Laura cut her off with a light shake. "What if he _wants_ a baby? Did you ever think of that?"

"No!" Jen wailed. "I haven't thought of anything except what I'm thinking right now!"

"Well don't count your chickens before they hatch." Laura shook her head. "Okay bad analogy. What I mean is… don't put words in his mouth. Until you talk to him…"

"Talk to him." Jen repeated.

"Talk to him." Laura said firmly.

"No." Jen shook her head quickly. "No, no, no."

Laura sighed, and took the cloth from Jen's hands and walked back over to the sink to re-wet it, her soft muttering barely audible over the sound of the running water. Laura returned and handed Jen back the cloth.

Jen jabbed her elbows into her knees and pressed her forehead against the cold cloth. Laura sat on the edge of the chair and rubbed her lower back in small circles.

"I can't be pregnant…" She muttered after a few minutes of agonizing silence.

"I think that point is mute now…"

"Oh God, Laura…" Jen's eyes snapped open and she dropped the cloth, the wet material dangling from the her white knuckled grasp. "They'll send me home!" The thought snapped through Jen's entire body and she jerked upright in a complete panic. They'd force her to leave. She wouldn't be allowed to stay. They'd send her straight back to Earth. Appoint another CMO. It was a military operation – no room for a pregnant woman. They'd force her to leave… and leave him behind. They'd never let him come… she couldn't… not now… not like this… not alone…

Then her next thought was that the lights in the lab were awfully bright, and certainly a lot higher than she remembered the ceiling being.

Then confusion at seeing Teyla's face hovering next to Laura's.

Squatting on the floor beside her, Laura pressed the cloth to her forehead, while Jen lay stretched out on the cold tile. "I told you to keep your head down." Her friend chastised, her face serious with worry.

"Come." Teyla said softly. "Let's get you up."

"Teyla?" Jen croaked, letting the two women help her up off the floor.

"I called her." Laura admitted, helping angle Jen down into the chair she'd recently fallen out of. "I needed backup."

Jen slumped back against the back of the chair, resting her head against the wall. She dropped the cloth across her forehead and eyes, and slapped both palms down on top of the cold material, wishing for nothing more than a chance to crawl beneath the scanner bed and hide.

"Jennifer…" Teyla's quiet voice matched the soothing pressure of her warm hands as she pulled the cloth away from Jen's face. "You are going to be just fine…"

Jen opened her eyes and regarded the Athosian woman, who was smiling softly.

"Surely, this is happy news?" Teyla asked, glancing from Jen to Laura, then back again. "Do you not wish to tell Ronon?"

"No!" Horror welled up through Jen's abdomen and escaped with a half laugh, half sob, the what-if's taking over her mind.

"Jennifer…" Teyla shifted onto her knees in front of the chair and looked up at Laura, who shrugged an I-told-you-so. Shifting her intense gaze back to Jen's face, the Athosian clasped Jen's hands firmly between her own. "Trust me when I tell you he will be nothing but happy."

"You can't know that." Jen exhaled. "I… we… we've never talked about it. We never talked about anything! I mean… sure we talk… but.. it doesn't… it's not the same… I can't just… blindside him with it! Hey Ronon, guess what?" She shook her head slowly side to side. "I can't just blurt it out! What if he says no! What if…"

"Jennifer." Teyla gave Jen's hands a quick shake. "Stop."

Jen swallowed, unable to look away. "They'll send me home." She whispered, pleading with Teyla to understand. If she told him, then it would be true. And if it was true, then everything she loved… everything she held dear… would be taken away.

"They're not going to send you home." Laura said firmly.

"You can't say that." Jen inched forward in the chair, under the watchful eyes of the two women. The dizziness slowed and passed, but fear hollowed out her bones. "Atlantis is a Military operation."

"You're not military." Laura reminded her.

"No," Jen shook her head. "I'm just the CMO. The _pregnant_ CMO." She exhaled, slumping dejectedly back into the chair and squeezing her eyes shut.

"Teyla's still here," Laura's voice was reassuring. "And her son."

Jen shook her head, cracking her eyes open to stare up at the ceiling. "Teyla's _from_ here." She lowered her head and looked at the two women standing beside her chair. "I'm not." Returning her gaze to the darkness above she rocked her head back and forth along the back of the chair. "I can't do this… not alone…"

"You're not alone." Teyla's words were firm, as was her grasp on Jen's hand.

Jen lowered her head and looked up at the Athosian, wishing to hell she had even an ounce of her positivity right now. Because at the moment, all she had was panic and dread.

"Now." Teyla nodded from Jen to Laura, then stepped away, releasing Jen's fingers. "I will be right back."

"Teyla…" Jen inhaled sharply through the fear, but Laura clamped a hand down on her shoulder, holding her to the seat of the chair.

"Sit." Laura ordered.

"But…" Jen blurted as Teyla unlocked the door and disappeared into the hallway. "What am I going to tell him! What am I going to say?"

"The truth." Laura said simply.

"And…" Jen stared up at her friend.

Laura dropped to her knees and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Jen's shoulders. "And nothing." She said quietly. "You'll tell him, and he'll be happy about it... or I'll shoot him where he stands."

Jen half-laughed, and hugged Laura, propping her chin on Laura's shoulder.

"You know I'd never steer you wrong…" Laura said softly, not releasing her.

"I know." Jen admitted, knowing without a doubt Laura was the kind of friend that would do anything. No matter what.

"Then trust me." Laura gave her a little squeeze before slipping her hands down to Jen's arms and leaning back. "Everything's going to be just fine. I promise."

With a slight shake of her head, Jen sighed. "I'm going to hold you to that…"

"You do that." Laura smiled slowly, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"What?" Jen started to laugh at the wide, crazy grin on Laura's face.

"Oh just thinking of all the totally cool birthday presents Auntie Laura's gonna come up with…" She rubbed her palms together excitedly. "I'm going to be the best Aunt ever!"

"No explosives."

Laura pouted and dropped her hands. "Party pooper."

Jen shook her head and inhaled slowly. Holding the air in she closed her eyes then let it out a long, slow breath. "Wow." She finally said, unable to think of anything even remotely coherent.

_Pregnant_.

"Yeah." Laura agreed with a light smile. "You're gonna make a fabulous mommy."

"Mommy." Jen whispered, pressing her eyes closed with her fingertips. "Oh god, Laura."

"Hey, don't start." Laura ordered firmly. "Besides… it's a little too late to turn back now."

"I never thought…" She admitted softly, dropping her hands and opening her eyes. "I mean… I thought… but… Now? Here? Like this? With… With…"

"With Ronon?" Laura finished with a smirk.

Jen snorted. "Yeah."

"Her boyfriends aren't going to stand a chance." Laura laughed.

"And if it's a boy?"

Laura shrugged. "Then lets hope he gets your people skills, not Ronon's."

"Laura!" Jen found herself laughing.

"Just sayin!" Laura held up her hands, palms out.

After a few minutes of silence Jen dropped her head, her hands slowly creeping forward across her lower abdomen.

"Pregnant." She whispered, with a disbelieving shudder. Realization that it wasn't a dream settled over her like a blanket. _She was pregnant_. A baby. A life growing inside her. So many things to do… to say… to plan and consider and change. So many things.

"Pregnant." She looked up at Laura, who smiled softly.

"Yeah." The Lieutenant nodded. "Pretty cool, huh."

A soft tapping sounded at the door and Jen's heart skittered behind her rib cage.

_Ronon_.

She swallowed hard and stood slowly, her emotions warring with all the volatile what-ifs that were slam-dancing through her heart and mind.

"You're going to be just fine." Laura stepped forward and hugged her again.

Jen hooked her arms around her friend and squeezed her tightly.

Laura smiled and stepped back, moving to unlock the door.

Taking a deep breath, Jen held it tightly, and waited.


	3. Chapter 3

The door slid open, and Ronon stepped into the room, followed quickly by Teyla. Jen held her breath, taking comfort in the familiar and excited skip her heart made every time she saw him. She had absolutely no idea what the hell she was going to say, or _how_ she was going to say it, or even if she _should_ say it at all.

"Hey." He grunted, his eyes moving from Jen to a grinning Laura, then back again.

Jen blinked and turned with him as Teyla grabbed Laura by the arm and yanked the Lieutenant out of the room with her.

"Okay bye!" Laura shouted as the door slid closed behind them.

When Ronon turned back around, Jen once again found herself completely lost in his eyes. Damn but the man could pin you to the floor with that stare. It was looking into the ocean after a storm.

"Jennifer?" He asked, stepping towards her, breaking through her addled distraction.

Jen blinked, the words stuck on her tongue. She swallowed them down.

"Are you okay?" He frowned and stopped in front of her, his index finger reaching up to brush at the wet bangs that were stuck to the side of her forehead, leftovers from the cloth she still clutched tightly in her left hand. "What's wrong?"

"I…" She croaked, her body jerking slightly as she found herself leaning towards him. She took a hesitant step back, but he followed, keeping their distance static.

"What's the matter?"

Jen could see the concern in his eyes as he searched her face. And normally… normally that wouldn't have bothered her. But tonight… right now… his worry called to hers and all the fears at the unknown twisted up through her abdomen and lodged in the base of her throat. She took a hurried step back, her hands reaching blindly as she hoped to God it was the chair she'd just bumped into because at that exact moment her knees stopped working and she dropped onto the hard cushion with an audible thump. The room spun and she quickly dropped her head between her knees.

"Crap, crap, crap..." She chanted, as Ronon shouted for Teyla, his hands pressing against her upper arms. "No…" Jen gripped his forearms. "I'm okay."

"You're not okay." He growled.

"Please…" She squeezed her fingers, gripping him tightly. "I'm okay." She inhaled slowly then exhaled. "Just… just don't leave."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm sorry." She apologized, breathing slowly in, then out. "I just need… there's something I need… need to tell you." She exhaled, the last of the dizziness skirting slowly away. "Oh lordy."

_Just say it_… she told herself. Get it over with. Let it out. Two words. I'm pregnant. Okay technically that's three words - _I am pregnant_ – just shortened. Easier to say if it's short. Less words. Simple words really…

"Jennifer." He gave her upper arms a quick squeeze.

Jen slowly lifted her head, afraid to see, needing to see, needing to know. Her heart moved faster with each catch of her breath as her eyes jumped to his. Kneeling on the floor in front of her - he was so close. So strong. So alive. So… worried. She could se it in his face. In his eyes. Such a simple emotion, but knowing he was worried about _her_ gave her the strength she needed to finish.

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out.

He didn't move.

Didn't blink.

Didn't breathe.

Just stared. Down on one knee in front of her. Frozen like a statue.

She waited, holding her breath, but nothing.

"Ronon?" She whispered, drowning in the surging force of every fearful thought and worry she could possibly have come up with. He didn't react. He didn't speak. He didn't…

…_want?_

His face blurred and she didn't care. Didn't stop. Didn't move away from her hunched position in the chair in front of him. Didn't wipe the tears from her cheeks, or the drops that fell onto the backs of her hands which were clenched so tightly in her lap. She closed her eyes, praying to forget this moment, willing her mind to erase it, hide it, burn it and bury it forever. Wanting only to curl into a tiny ball and follow the memory into a deep hole in the cold dirt.

"No."

Jen heard his gruff whisper and it sliced through her as surly as though he'd used a knife, and she could no longer hold back the sob.

"Jennifer, no." He commanded, and suddenly she found herself surrounded in heat and warmth, his arms crushing her then instantly releasing her with a shocked curse. She felt his lips on her face, kissing her mouth, her eyelids, her cheeks. Kissing away the tears. His fingers brushed her hair back from her forehead, his voice begging her to look at him.

Holding her breath she blinked her eyes open, afraid to see, afraid not to. His palms cupped her cheeks, preventing her from turning anywhere but to him.

"Why do you cry?" The starkness of his gaze searched her face, seeking answers she wished she knew how to give him.

"I'm scared."

"Why?"

"Because I'm pregnant?" She whispered, licking tears out of the corner of her mouth. "Because… Because I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

He smiled slowly. "The CMO of Atlantis doesn't know what to do when she's pregnant?"

She shook her head, exhaling a scattered sob.

"Hey." He grabbed her and pulled her close, his arms gentle as they surrounded her. "Oh Jennifer… I'm sorry." He apologized.

She froze. "Sorry? Because I'm pregnant?"

"No." His head snapped back, his face suddenly serious. "Never that. Understand me here and now. Never that."

She swallowed and inhaled slowly, nodding. "Okay."

"I'm sorry…" He continued. "Because it not was the reaction I would have wanted you to have to remember. I… you... surprised me."

"Yeah well it kind of surprised me, too." She muttered.

"Are you not happy?" He asked dropping his chin and regarding her directly, his thumb lightly caressing the side of her jaw.

Jen asked herself the same question, her instant reaction mixed. "I…" She stammered. "I mean… a… a… a baby? It's just… so… And… I know it wasn't expected… we didn't… it never came up… and… you… we… I mean… you've never said… and I mean I always thought… you know… someday… And I don't want you to think that I… that this is… because it's not… And I... um... are... are.... you?" She trailed, off, confused as to why his smile broadened with each of her half started sentences. "What?" she asked hesitantly.

"Tell me again." He asked, guiding her slowly to her feet.

"Tell you… again?" She asked, tipping her head all the way back to look up at him as he moved closer, his arms slipping slowly around her back until she was firmly locked against his chest.

"Tell me again… " He asked, the smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he stared down at her. "What you wanted to tell me when I came in here tonight."

* * *

Outside the room, Laura lifted her ear off the door and glanced at Teyla. "It's awfully quiet in there…"

"Yes." Teyla nodded and smiled knowingly. "I'm sure it is."

Laura leaned back against the door, pressing the side of her head against the cold metal. "They've been in there an awfully long time. I mean how long does it take to say _I'm pregnant_ and _yay_?"

She jumped back with a squeak when a very loud, very guttural, very obviously male whoop echoed out from behind the locked door, followed by a squeal of laughter that could only be Jennifer.

She turned towards Teyla, both women grinning wildly.

"Finally." Teyla exclaimed happily.

"Well then." Laura laughed, dusting her hands together quickly. She hooked her arm through Teyla's and the two women strode down the hallway, arm in arm. "Our work here is done."

"Yes." Teyla laughed, giving the sealed door a parting glance before they turned down the intersecting corridor. "And a wonderful job it was."

"Why thank you, Ms. Emmagen." Laura said smartly.

"You are very welcome, Ms. Cadman." Teyla replied.


	4. Chapter 4 The Second Month

**The Second Month**

* * *

"Dammit, Doc! Keep your head down!" Evan cursed, placing his left hand on Jen's head and pushing her beacon of blond hair down behind the muddy brown of the ridgeline. "And quick picking at it!"

"I'm not picking…" Jen muttered, scrunching down into the cold embankment and dropping her hand away from the field dressing wrapped tightly around her left bicep. The remnants of her sleeve of her jacket hung loosely beside her, exposing her entire arm to the cold evening air.

Fisting her fingers she cupped her hands together and blew on them, willing them to warm long enough for her to accurately check the two inch bullet graze across her upper arm. She needed something to concentrate on other than the primary worry of her situation, the secondary worry of the rotting smell of dirt that was starting to roll her empty stomach, and the tertiary worry that she couldn't remember if she'd told Ronon _exactly_ where she was going before she left this morning. Because if she thought too much about either the dirt, the nausea, the reason for her nausea, the thought she'd forgot to mention something crucial to Ronon, or why she was currently sitting in the cold wet mud and not back home in a nice warm city… she was either going to throw up, scream, or burst into tears… and none of them seemed like very good options.

Evan slid backwards on his belly, then rolled onto his back beside her. His breath hissed out from between his teeth, clearly visible in the chill of the encroaching darkness. He tucked the binoculars back into the front pocket of his TAC vest and lifted his head to look at Ellis, who was lying on his back on Jennifer's other side.

"Anything?" Ellis asked, keeping a firm grip on his P90 which lay across his chest. Next to Ellis was Captain Sanchez, lying on his side, keeping watch on the flat area to their right.

Evan shook his head. "Nothing."

"Do you think he's still out there?" Jen looked hopefully around at the four men lying in the dirt with her. "Maybe he left?"

"One way to find out…" Ellis shrugged then looked around, sliding down to grab a fist sized rock out of the damp mud. Rolling onto his side, he crouched down into the lowest point of the muddy ditch and leaned back, giving the rock a hefty toss over the top of the ridge and into the trees. Branches snapped as it cracked through the saplings and dropped with an audible thud into undergrowth.

The sharp crack of gunfire off to their left answered the question.

"Still there." Browne muttered from the other side of Evan. The Lieutenant was mirroring Sanchez' position, keeping his eye on the area to their left.

"Shit." Sanchez muttered. "How much ammo can a freekin' scientist carry, anyway?"

"Pretty much everything in the jumper?" Evan sighed with exasperation.

"He's an engineer." Jen corrected. "Not a scientist. And one's enough." She tried to lift the edge of the bandage, but her finger's were shaking from the cold and she couldn't get a firm enough hold. She gave up with a sigh. The wound had been neat enough when Ellis had wrapped it… she was just going to have to trust that it would stay that way despite the field of cold wet muck they were currently lying in.

"You know, things would be much easier if we could just shoot the ramped-up jackass." Ellis frowned, glancing at Jen.

"You are _not_ going to shoot Dr. Keon!" Jen pointed a cold, trembling index finger at the glaring Lieutenant. "The hallucinogen will wear off… eventually…"

"Before or after he tries to shoot you again?" Evan reminded her, his voice clipped.

Jen sighed again. Dr. Keon had consumed some very hallucinogenic berries and in a fit of induced insanity, had not only dismantled their only ride off the planet, he'd destroyed all the supplies inside, then tried unsuccessfully to blow it up with a grenade. When that didn't work… the overdosed engineer had leapt out from behind the jumper, accused Jen of being a Wraith Queen, and tried to shoot her. If it hadn't been for the fast reaction of the Major, she'd have a hole in something a lot more critical than just her upper arm.

By the time Sanchez, Browne and Ellis had returned from the far side of the clearing, Dr. Keon had disappeared into the surrounding forest, leaving them without a ride, supplies, or shelter.

"He wasn't really trying to kill me." She muttered, hoping her words carried more strength of conviction than she felt. Because if she started to think about how she felt… and _why_ she felt that way…

"You just keep telling yourself that, Doc." Sanchez eyed the open land that surrounded them.

"It's not his fault." Jen reminded them. "He's obviously under the influence of the… berries."

No one commented.

She stared at the jumper sitting a few hundred yards behind them – their only ride off the uninhabited planet via space gate. The back side of the small ship was scuffed and covered in mud, the corners charred from where the doctor had tried to blow the hatch off. Luckily the grenade landed in the mud far enough from the ship not to cause too much external damage – but it had been close enough to jam the rear door and lock them out.

They'd been on their way to the supposed safety of the trees when the crazed Doctor had began shooting at them in earnest, pinning them behind the mound of dirt they were currently sitting beneath.

Another staccato burst echoed across the clearing and Jen jerked and let out a small squeak. Adrenaline pounded through her veins and she took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm awake now…"

"He's got to be running out…" Sanchez suggested hopefully.

"One would think." Browne echoed. "He's been going at it for nearly twenty minutes."

"Yeah but he's still got two grenades, the C4, and the M9…" Ellis reminded them.

_Grenades. C4. M9._ Jen shuddered, willing the fear away, praying she'd have time to deal with it later. She had to fight to keep from dropping her cold hands to her flat belly, her emotions reminding her of just where Dr. Keon had been inadvertantly aiming the M9 when he'd tried to kill her. Her heart beat continued its awkward, staccato thumping, and her stomach rolled over in protest of the realization that things could have gone very differently.

_Very_ differently.

She glanced at Evan, who's blue eyes were regarding her with concern. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm good." She tried for a reassuring smile, but only managed to chatter her teeth at him. "Just… cold."

"Come out, come out, where-ever you are!!!" A high pitched voice sing-songed, echoing across the misty ground. "Whack-a-mole! Whack-a-mole!" Another sharp chatter of gunfire, then silence.

"Damn, that guy's seriously baked." Ellis shook his head. "How many of those berries did he eat?"

Jen shivered again, and tried to tuck her fridgid fingers into her armpits, wincing when her injured arm protested painfully. "According to Teyla, it only takes a couple."

Sanchez glanced at his watch. "We still have two hours until we're due back." He looked up, glanced at Jen, then looked over at his CO. "And it's not going to get any warmer."

Evan looked up at the darkening sky, where the first stars had already made their appearance. "It'll be dark soon." He glanced at the others. "By then he loses his advantage…"

"And we gain ours." Ellis finished with a nod.

"If we don't freeze to death first." Jen muttered.

"Come on, Doc." Evan grinned. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Back home with my dry clothes." Jen scowled.

"Well, we've got two choices…" Evan rolled onto his side, turning himself fully towards her. "Wait for dark and make a run for it… or _don't_ wait for dark and make a run for it."

"Those sound awfully similar…" Jen frowned and reached for the edges of the bandage around her arm.

"God, you're worse than a little kid!" Evan's hand landed on hers and pulled her arm down. "Leave it alone."

Jen scowled at him.

"Ten minutes…" Evan glanced around at the others. "If he's quiet, we'll go straight across." He angled his chin towards the massive trunk of a towering pine a hundred yards to their right. "There's enough growth there to offer enough cover."

Jen stared across the distance to the trees while the other's nodded their agreement. They sat in silence, listening for any indication of exactly where Dr. Keon was, but the woods remained silent and still.

After a few minutes, Ellis shifted beside her, digging into one of his pockets. He yanked out a power bar and ripped the top open, holding it out to Jen. "Hungry Doc?"

Jen's stomach pained as she reached for the bar. She hadn't eaten in hours, and she knew she really should keep up her energy. But the second the sickeningly sweet scent of strawberry hit her nostrils, followed by the underlying odor of the wet, stagnant mud, her stomach lurched with an aggressive shudder. At a second, almost immediate heave, she clamped her hands over her mouth, hissing when her arm protested the unconscious movement. Pain shot up her shoulder, her stomach rolled over, and she heaved violently.

"Shit, Doc!" Ellis cursed, slapping the power bar at Sanchez's chest as the Captain turned to see what was going on.

Jen's stomach thrust upward again and she gagged, desperately looking around for someplace - anyplace - other than where she was sitting to empty the quickly rising bile from her throat. In a panic she tried to stand up and was quickly tackled by both Evan and Ellis, and forced to her knees.

P90 fire snapped through the silence, accompanied by cackling laughter, and splatters of dirt chopped up large chunks of mud a dozen feet to their right.

Jen dropped forward, half by demand, half by choice. Cold, sloppy mud caked up over her palms, oozing through the cracks between her fingers as she dry heaved, her sides compressing with the force of the expulsion. Her left arm throbbed and she tried to lift her hand up to relieve the pressure, and lost her balance, but was quickly propped up by Ellis.

With the Lieutenant holding her upright, and the Major half covering her back and head, she fought to control her stomach. Tears automatically welled in her eyes and her nose began to run. As the heaving slowed, then stopped, the follow-up tremors began to shake through her arms, quickly spreading to the rest of her body. The calmer her stomach became, the more she began to shake.

Taking a long, deep breath, she was almost at the point where she once again trusted her stomach. Lifting her head, she glanced up at Evan through the tears that still stung her eyes. "Crap. I'm s-sorry." She muttered, her body shaking violently.

"Hell, Doc." Evan tried to smile, but even through the blur Jen could see the worry in his eyes. "If you didn't want the bar you could have just said so…"

Jen tried to laugh, but her chattering teeth cut off the sound. With a nod, Evan leaned her towards Ellis, who lay back against the muddy ridge, pulling her back into a seated position with him. The Lieutenant slipped his P90 to the side and wrapped his arms around her. Jen shuddered so violently she gave up trying to talk, and collapsed against the Lieutenant, thankful for what little heat he could give through the lumpy pocketed TAC vest digging into her back.

She tried to wipe her cheeks, but both hands were covered in wet mud. Her sleeves weren't much cleaner, so she had to settle for rubbing her cheeks against the inside of her right arm.

Another violent tremor shook through her body and she cursed.

_God she hated throwing up!_

No matter when or why, it _always_ made her cry, and it _always_ gave her the shakes. The crying she could probably contain… but the shaking… If history was any indication, there was no stopping it now. Not without a bed, blankets, and a bucket – just incase. She'd been queasy on and off for the past couple of weeks now… and for some reason, anything smelling even remotely like strawberries sent her stomach into a downward spiral.

She snapped her eyes open when the back of Evan's cold hand landed against her forehead.

"Just checking." He acknowledged.

"I'm o-k-k-kay." She chattered.

"Yeah and I have some land for sale." Browne answered, glancing over Evan's shoulder at her.

Jen watched as an unvoiced command passed between the Major and the Lieutenant.

"S-s-sorry." She stammered. "Really…. I'm o-kay."

"S'okay, Doc." Ellis' voice was warm against her ear. "This way none of us win."

Jen snorted. "B-b-being shot at by a b-berry-over-d-dosed-engineer wasn't on the l-list?"

Browne laughed and crawled from his position on the far side over to Sanchez. "Definitely not."

"I'm sure it'll make the cut for next time, though." Sanchez added, giving her a lazy grin. But the smile didn't fool her – not for one minute. His eyes assessed her quickly, then hardened again as he eyed the trees on the ridge behind them.

"Okay, All-State." Evan nodded at Browne, then angled his chin towards the dense undergrowth a hundred yards to their right. "Time to put your money where your mouth is."

Browne grinned.

"W-what?" Jen lifted her head off the Lieutenant's shoulder and looked at the three men crouched in the dirt beside her. "We're going already?"

"Browne first." Evan glanced quickly at Jen as he moved past her and lay on his stomach, belly crawling to the edge of the mound of dirt. "We'll follow once he's in position." When he was able to partially see around the corner, Evan slipped his P90 forward and aimed for the trees, tilting the barrel back. He glanced at Sanchez. "Aim high. Hopefully the idiot doesn't think he's George of the Jungle."

Sanchez moved higher up the rise, his body low to the ground as he slipped forward, angling his P90 towards the upper branches.

Ellis wriggled himself lower, carrying Jen with him.

"On my mark." Evan commanded, and Jen felt Ellis's arms tense around her.

Her own heartbeat kicked up and she dug her fingers into the Lieutenant's forearm.

"Relax, Doc." He whispered in his ear.

"Easy for you to s-s-ay." She stammered, making him laugh. "You d-do this all the t-t-time."

Evan began his countdown, and Jen held her breath.

"Three…" The Major counted steadily. "Two. One. Mark!"


	5. Chapter 5

Jen jerked at the bark of the weapons when both Evan and Sanchez fired into the tree-tops behind them. At the same time, Brown took off like a shot towards the safety of the forest, making his run for shelter so they could all get the heck out of the middle of the field, and away from the hallucinating Dr. Keon.

"He's at the fifty!" Ellis barked out, his voice cutting the air between the staccato bursts of gunfire that echoed around them. "The forty! The thirty! The twenty!"

Mud chopped up a few feet from Browne's feet and Evan shouted to Sanchez to target the dirt at the base of the ridge. Both men knelt in the muck, lifting their torso's up to take aim at the roots of the trees.

"He… could… go… all… the… way…" Ellis chanted, watching as Browne leapt into the trees, disappearing behind a thick scrub of pine. "Touchdown!"

Evan and Sanchez quickly dropped in behind the muddy hill. Seconds later, Dr. Keon's return fire peppered the mud between their hiding spot and the trees. When it stopped, a loud cackling laugh echoed around them, followed by a high-toned, childlike singing.

"Is that…" Evan shook his head in surprise.

"T-t-twinkle twinkle l-little s-s-star…" Jen chattered, instantly recognizing the nursery rhyme.

"Nothing like a little… musical accoutrement." Sanchez said saucily.

"Play of the game, boys!" Browne's voice cracked through their earpieces, making Jen jump. "I'm in position."

Evan tapped his earpiece. He turned towards Sanchez, giving the Captain a brief nod. "Okay. Hold for Sanchez."

From her reclined position against Lieutenant Ellis' chest, Jen tried to watch as the Captain moved into position, but her body was shaking with every breath now… shake, pause, shake, pause. It was damn distracting, and the chattering was making her teeth hurt. The tremors were strong enough that Ellis actually cursed.

"Damn, Doc." He muttered. "You sure you're okay?"

She nodded, the shaking making it more of a jerking bob. "I'm s-sorry." She chattered. "Doct-t-tor Kell-ler isn't h-here r-right n-now… she's some… p-p-place…w-warm…"

Ellis snorted. "Doc! You made a funny!"

Jen rolled her head against his shoulder and tried to glare at him but it was difficult… given their rather oddly intimate positions, and the silly grin he was giving her. She ended up laughing. "You're… imposs-s-sible…" She shook her head with a snort.

He grinned wider. "That's why you love me most…"

Evan shook his head at the duo and motioned the Captain into position.

Sanchez tapped his earpiece. "Dude, my Nona's faster than you." He snorted at Browne, who flipped him the finger from the cover of the trees on the far side. Swinging his P90 to his side, Sanchez crawled to the edge of the muddy embankment. "Now, Grasshopper… watch and learn from the master…"

"Go!" Evan ordered, lifting his head and shoulders up from behind the mud and firing a blast at the tree line. The minute the Captain disappeared behind the trunk of the pine Evan dropped to the dirt, ducking when gunfire splattered clumps of wet muck over their heads.

"Either his aim is improving, or he's getting luckier." Ellis muttered, letting go of Jen only long enough to swipe a chunk of mud of the side of his cheek.

"Let's not stick around and find out…" Evan suggested. Sitting forward, he ripped the velcro straps of his TAC vest and yanked it off. Once Ellis had both himself and Jennifer sitting up, Evan pulled his vest down over Jen's head.

"Evan…" She started to protest, but was in no physical condition to do anything more than be a puppet as he positioned it around her.

He was holding her bad arm when a shudder kicked through her body. "Yeah, _sure_ you're okay…" He glared at her, tightening the straps as best he could, given the larger size of the vest and her smaller frame.

"I am fine." She tried to glare back at him, but only succeeded in making him scowl further.

"Browne. Cover fire." Evan ordered, moving into a crouch and gripping Jen's good arm. "Sanchez. North corner."

"I c-can move on my own…" Jen shuddered, frowning at Evan's hand on her upper arm. "I'm not d-d-dead…"

Evan raised an eyebrow, his expression telling her he didn't believe it and if he did, he wasn't going to listen anyway. He tipped his chin to Ellis, and the Lieutenant moved to the far side of the mud hill, crawling towards the top.

"Ready?" Evan glanced down at her.

"No…" Jen mumbled, and pursed her lips. Her stomach flipped over again and she tensed_. Oh God…. not now…_

Evan stared at her. "Doc…?" He drew the word out in a long, questioning exhale.

Her abdomen cramped, jerking her upper body forward. With a horrified groan, she clamped her muddy left hand against her stomach, and the other over her mouth. The smell of the dirt on her hands immediately caked up her nose and she dry heaved.

Evan cursed and dragged her back behind the burm.

Jen frantically wiped the dirt off her face with the inside of her sleeve, inhaling sharply through her nose, and exhaling in short bursts through her mouth. Evan stared at her, blue eyes concerned and questioning while she took several long, slow, deep breaths. After a moment her stomach relaxed and she lowered her hands and nodded. "I'm good. I'm good."

Evan continued to stare at her. "You're… good…" He repeated slowly.

She placed her right hand on his arm and nodded, fighting to keep herself from trembling too much. She knew she wouldn't succeed, but tried anyway. "Really. I'm good."

"Ring around the rosy… pockets full of poesies… Killing me a Wraith queen… dum daa dum daa dum dum..." Dr. Keon's voice sang out, echoing across the field of mud.

"And on that note…" Evan nodded once at Ellis, then turned towards Jen. Gripping her upper arm firmly, he moved her around and pointed to the large pine tree. "We go, and don't stop until we pass the tree. Don't hesitate. Don't look back. Don't look anywhere but forward. I'll be right there with you." He paused. "And no puking until we get to the other side."

Jen nodded, really hoping she wasn't about to go rabbiting across an open field with an overdosed maniac wanting to kill her because he thought she was a Wraith queen, but knowing damn well that she was and oh lord what if something happened… what if she slipped… or tripped… or… She couldn't just run out there… Ronon was going to kick her ass if anything happened… If anything _else_ happened… She couldn't just… not without… No one knew… Maybe Evan should know. For medical reasons… for personal reasons…

"Evan…" She gripped the Major's arm in a panic, willing him to turn and look at her. "If anything happens…"

"Nothing's going to happen." He said firmly.

"Evan, please. This is important."

His head snapped around. "Jen, you're going to be fine. Nothing is going-"

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out, watching Evan's shocked jerk and ignoring Ellis' gurgling cough behind her. "Eight weeks."

"You're…" Evan blinked, dropped his eyes towards her stomach, which was buried beneath the bottom of his TAC vest. Then he immediately snapped them back up to her face.

She nodded quickly. "Yeah."

He ran his free hand down across his face, rubbed his jaw, then shook his head slowly. "Okay I did _not_ see that one coming."

"Nether did I." She half smiled.

Evan shifted his fingers against her upper arm, glanced at Ellis. "What?" He frowned at the Lieutenant, who was staring at them both with wide eyed distraction. Evan glanced from Ellis, to Jen, then back to Ellis again, a dawning realization kicking in and making him groan. "Not me, you idiot!"

Ellis let his breath out in a long whoosh of air, his shoulders slumping with relief. "Okay… okay, that's good… good… 'cause I was wondering how much of you we'd have left to bury when Ronon found out…"

Jen snorted.

Evan rolled his eyes, then turned back to Jen, his face serious. "I don't know if I should hug you or throttle you." He admitted, glancing pointedly at the gauze bandage wrapped around the bare skin of her left arm.

"I'd prefer option A…" Jen shivered, then smiled hopefully.

Evan renewed his firm grip on her good arm and turned himself back towards their destination. "You and I are going to have a little chat when this is all over, missy…"

"I think it's a little late for that." Ellis suggested.

Evan glared at the Lieutenant then shifted forward and moved Jen into a squat, keeping his arm through hers. "No more going off world, no climbing ladders, no lifting, no bending, no overworking, no more late nights, no god-damn flaked out engineers trying to kill you, no running with scissors…"

"Hear, hear…" Ellis agreed.

"Running with scissors?" Jen leaned forward, trying to focus on his words and not the fact that they were about to start running for their lives.

"Rules." He said firmly, bracing his legs and nodding. "Lots and lots of rules. And by damn you're gonna stick to them or I'll shoot you myself…"

"You'll have to stand in line…" Jen mumbled, thinking of the hell she was going to get when she got back. If she got back… She shook her head quickly trying to push the foreboding away, but the trembling cold in her bones was not helping.

"I'm too young for this…" Evan shook his head and glared at her, but Jen could see there was laughter hiding behind the stern expression. "Uncle Evan, huh."

"You're _already_ an Uncle." She reminded him.

He shook his head and glanced around at their surroundings, his expression once locked on the task at hand. Jen felt his grip tighten on her upper arm and she took a deep breath and held it.

Evan reached up and keyed his com. "Sanchez, Browne. Cover fire. On my mark… three… two… one… Mark!"

Jen didn't have time to think about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. She wasn't running so much as being pulled across the mud, her feet sliding around as she slipped forward, her boots squishing across the wet, sloppy surface. Evan's TAC vest bounced around her torso and she clamped her injured arm across her chest, trying to keep it from moving so much. Evan's grip on her upper arm kept her going, guiding her across the slippery surface towards the safety of the pine trees. She knew someone was shooting – she could hear the sharp clattering of the P90's – but she couldn't tell who… and really, really didn't want to know. Seconds crawled by and she swore the damn tree was moving further and further away.

As soon as the shadows beneath the heavy, overhanging branches closed in around her, arms grabbed her and she let out a shriek, and even though her addled brain _knew_ it was Sanchez, she couldn't stop the momentary skip of sound. The Captain pulled her quickly into the undergrowth, and away from the edge of the field.

"Either he stopped shooting, or he's out of ammo." Browne called over his shoulder. "He stopped firing."

"He's still got-" Evan's reminder of the engineer's other weapons was cut off with the sharp retort of the M9, immediately followed by the snapping blast of tree bark exploding somewhere over their heads. Lumps of bark and branches rained down around them as the engineer continued to shoot into the forest around them.

Jen let out a squeak as Sanchez dropped to the ground, yanking her down beside him. As soon as the shooting stopped he hauled her back up and half pushed, half carried her further into the brush. Through the com, Jen heard Evan's orders to Ellis to start running. She tried to turn to make sure the Lieutenant was going to be in the clear, but Sanchez wasn't letting up on his objective to get her away from the field.

Two loud explosions shoved her feet out from beneath her and Jen found herself on her knees, her head and shoulders buried beneath the Captain's upper body.

"What was that?!" She looked up, her eyes wide beneath the fall of her bangs.

"Grenade." Sanchez scowled, glancing over his shoulder.

"Ellis!" Jen jerked, realizing the doped up engineer was throwing live grenades at the Lieutenant, who was probably still trying to get to the trees. She pushed at Sanchez and tried to stand up but he held her firm.

"He's already across." Sanchez grappled with her, keeping her down as a second explosion vibrated the ground beneath them.

"Sanchez, get the Doc outta here!" Evan barked over the com. "Before he figures out how to trigger that C4."

"Roger that." Sanchez replied, pulling her to her feet and guiding her further into the forest. He hooked his arm around her waist to catch her when her foot ignored her command to lift and she tripped over a tree root.

"There's a narrow escarpment about half a mile in." Sanchez told her, keeping his arm locked around her waist as he guided her through the trees. "Should give us some shelter."

Jen didn't bother answering, although the concept of shelter sounded too good to be true. She was cold, soaked, and absolutely miserable. Most of her body was wet from the mud, her arm stung, and she was one more close call away from bursting into tears. Placing one foot in front of the other, she worked on moving forward. Find someplace dry. Get warm. Wait for rescue. Wait for Ronon.

Lord he was going to be furious.

But damn if he wasn't going to be warm.

She'd take the fury if she could just be warm. And dry. And safe. And have a blanket. And a pillow. Bed. And soup. God she'd kill for some of her Grandma's home-made tomato soup right now…

When a branch nearly caught her in the forehead, she shoved the odd tangent of thoughts away and concentrated on walking without knocking herself out.

The woven curtain of branches were so thick in places they had to force their way through, having no other way around. Jen stole a glance back to see if she could see the others but the forest had closed in around them too completely, leaving nothing but their staggered and muddy footprints through the sea of tree trunks, and half-broken branches marking their passing. She almost laughed. It was a trail even Rodney could follow. Start at the charcoal streaked jumper and hang a left. She clamped down on the nervous giggle when Sanchez gave her a worried frown.

What little adrenaline she'd spiked during her run wore off quickly and her legs stopped wanting to cooperate. With her good arm around the Captain's waist, Jen dug her fingers into the far side of his belt and held on, doing her best to shove branches out of the way with her injured arm, but failing miserably. Sanchez pulled as may out of the way as he could, but a large bough she tried to duck around slipped through her muddy fingers and snapped across her shoulder, cracking directly onto the injury.

With a loud curse she stumbled back and would have fallen if not for his firm grip. He pulled her to a stop and reached for the edge of the gauze, lifting it slightly. "Yeah, you cracked it open again…" He tisked, while Jen used the opportunity to peer at the once again bleeding gash.

What had moments ago been a dull throbbing was now a sharp stinging that extended all the way down her arm to her fingertips, and up across her shoulder. She had no painkillers… not that she'd be able to take most of them anyway, she reminded herself… and no other medical supplies. She sighed, then shivered. It would bleed… but it wasn't fatal.

Sanchez dropped the gauze back down and urged her forward. "We're almost there."

"What about the others?" She asked, hissing through her teeth. Every time she shivered a stabbing bite of pain shot down her arm.

"Right behind you." The Captain nodded with a half smile, angling his head over her shoulder.

Jen glanced back and almost sighed with relief to see Evan, Ellis and Browne hurrying through the trees after them.

Breaking through a narrow copse, they dropped down into a flat and narrow stream bed. Only a few feet across, it snaked away in both directions, disappearing into the trees on either side. The bank directly across from them was wide and narrow, backing onto a jagged rock face that shoot up a dozen feet.

Sanchez pulled her across the stream to the far bank, stepping with her up onto the flat rocky surface as the others splashed through the water to join them.

Evan pointed Ellis and Browne in opposite directions. "See if there's a good spot to set up."

Everyone winced with the sound of a massive explosion back in the direction of the Jumper. Somewhere above their heads a flock of large birds took to the skies in a cacophony of unhappy chattering, and tiny rocks skipped down the narrow escarpment around them. They stood in silence as the echoes died off, leaving the forest deadly quiet once again.

Jen moved to step forward, knowing Dr. Keon could be injured – badly – but Sanchez didn't let go. She turned towards him, her mouth open to demand he let her go when a loud whooping cheer echoed through the trees.

"Damn, that guy's got nine lives…" Ellis snorted

Evan shook his head with disgust. "I'm _really_ hoping he didn't just try to blow up the Jumper…" The Major inhaled slowly then sighed, shaking his head dejectedly. He turned towards Jen. "Sit." He ordered, pointing to a flat rock a few feet away. "Let's get that rewrapped." He angled his chin towards the blood seeping out from beneath the gauze bandage around her arm.

As Ellis and Browne moved off in opposite directions down the stream, laughing to themselves about the Major's upcoming bout of paperwork, Jen gave up trying to get either Evan or Sanchez to let her do it herself. Using the last field dressing they carried between them, they re-dressed her wound, then waited for the others to report back.

Within a few minutes Browne radioed that there was a narrow overhang a mile upstream. A small cave – short and wide – but cover enough should it start to rain. By the time they caught up to the Lieutenant, Jen was pretty much ready to call it quits – until she saw the beginnings of the fire Browne had already started near the back of the gutted out rocky opening. She made a beeline for the heat source and dropped heavily onto the cold rock surface.

"Thank God." She mumbled, slipping as close to the fire as she could safely get.

Evan crouched down beside her. "All right, Doc," the Major said, his tone serious. "I'm only going to say this once, and I want no arguements."

"Say what once?" Jen held her frozen palms up towards the nicely snapping fire and turned her head towards him, worry freezing her breath to see his closed expression.

"Take your clothes off."


	6. Chapter 6

_Take your clothes off?_

Jen gaped at Evan's command… then burst out laughing when he grinned. "Awfully presumptuous, Major." She snorted, as Evan reached for the velcro straps on the TAC vest she still wore draped across her torso. "I'm afraid it would never work… I'm a fallen woman…" She said with mock sadness.

"Yeah, you've _fallen'_ all right." Evan snorted, easing the vest up over her head and setting it on the ground beside her.

"Whaddya' fall on, Doc?" Sanchez frowned, glancing over at her.

"Not _falling_, dumbass." Ellis corrected. "Fallen."

"Fallen?" Sanchez shook his head in confusion. "That's what I said…"

Jen glanced up from where she was trying unsuccessfully to make her cold hands unthread the knot in her bootlace. Evan tisked and rolled his eyes. He brushed her hands away and attacked the laces.

"No you said fall, like… she tripped." Ellis turned towards Sanchez. "She said fallen… as in…" The Lieutenant stopped suddenly, glancing quickly at Jen, as he realized he was about to blurt out her secret.

"As in?" Sanchez blinked, then frowned. "You don't even know, do you?"

Ellis' hopeful expression practically begged Jen to let him say it.

Evan glanced at her at shrugged. "It up to you. It's your secret."

"You sure?" She asked, biting her lower lip.

Evan shrugged. "They're here for you, too, you know." He reminded her.

"Secret?" Browne dropped a load of branches onto the floor of the cave with a loud clatter and turned towards the others. "Who's got a secret?"

Ellis raised his eyebrows, and smiled encouragingly at Jen from the other side of the fire.

"You'd think it was his the way he's carrying on…" Evan muttered, making Jen laugh.

"What's his?" Sanchez stepped forward.

"No one else can know." Jen pointed her index finger at Ellis. "Not yet, anyway."

Ellis nodded, his face suddenly serious. "If they speak a word to anyone outside this… cave… well then I'll shoot them myself."

"Why is everyone wanting to shoot people all of a sudden?" She muttered, glancing around at the mix of laughing and confused expressions.

"You're a bad influence on them." Evan suggested, lifting his knuckle to pretend to wipe a tear out of the corner of his eye. "They've come so far…"

Jen rolled her eyes. "You're worse than they are."

Evan laughed and yanked off her wet boots, then removed her wet socks.

"What secret?" Browne asked again, this time with a little more exasperation.

Jen smiled up at Lieutenant Ellis and nodded her head. "Fine. You can tell him. But it doesn't leave this room… cave…"

Ellis nodded then spun towards Browne and Sanchez, his face breaking into a wide grin. "Doc's pregnant!"

His announcement was met with complete and utter silence.

Jen glanced up from her now bare toes, her eyes moving past Evan to the two men standing behind him. Somehow she expected… well… maybe something more than shock. It wasn't like she'd just announced she was giving birth to a two-headed alien… although technically it would be an alien… then she realized they weren't staring at her... so much as Evan.

"What?" Evan glanced over his shoulder, taking in the slack-jawed stare from his team members.

"Oh for heaven's sake what is with you guys!" He promptly stood up and glared at the two men. "I've never… We've never…" He waved his hand between himself and Jennifer. "It's _not_ mine!"

Jen couldn't help laughing at the way both men let out the air they'd been holding.

"Oh thank god." Browne's shoulders slumped dramatically.

"Shit, Doc…" Sanchez shook his head. "Don't scare me like that. For a minute there I didn't think I'd see another sunrise."

"You're _not_ going to see another sunrise…" Evan scowled.

"Well… come on, Sir!" Browne pointed from Evan to Jennifer then back again. "I mean you guys are… awfully…"

"Be _very_ careful of what you're about to say, Lieutenant." Evan warned.

"Chummy?" Browne suggested hopefully.

Evan glanced down at Jen, who was grinning widely.

"You _are_ awfully chummy…" She laughed, then sneezed violently.

The Major rolled his eyes. "Like I said…" he reached down and helped her to her feet. "Bad influence."

Jen suddenly found herself surround in a group hug, with echoed congratulations, and demands on names if it was a boy.

Evan shoved them all away, muttering curses. "All right." He ordered forcefully, pointing at Jen. "You, out of the wet clothes." Then he turned towards the men in his team, undoing the buttons on his BDU shirt and dropping the mud covered garment to the floor. "Who's dry?"

Velcro ripped as the three men pulled off their vests and stripped their muddy shirts off, getting down to their t-shirts. After a quick chorus of agreements, Browne yanked his t-shirt off and held it out to Jen, who stared at him with confusion.

Evan turned towards her. "Wet clothes, off." He ordered again, stepping closer.

"But…" She protested, stepping back, then realizing her folly when her bare feet snapped down on a really cold patch of rock.

"You know as well as I do you're no good sitting there soaked." Evan countered, reaching behind him to snag Browne's shirt and hold it out to her.

"Yes but…"

"Doc…" He warned.

"I'm fine." She tried, but he waved his hand dismissively. "I can wait… really."

"Personally, I'd appreciate living until sunrise myself." He angled his head. "So I'm not bringing you back wet and muddy when there's perfectly good, _dry_ clothes you could be wearing."

Jen glanced around him at the others, who were smirking. Evan was right – of course – but still…

"You're not the only… you… you should be worried about any more." He quietly reminded her.

Jen shivered again and her doctor mind overruled her prudish and stubborn feminine hormones. She sighed, then circled her index finger in the air at the trio on the other side of the small fire. "Turn."

All three men obediently snapped around.

Evan scowled when she tried to make him turn around as well. "And you're doing it with one arm?" He asked, pointing to the gauze around her upper arm.

"I… can manage…" She muttered, trying for the zipper of her jacket, and failing miserably. The catch was glued shut with a large clump of sticky mud.

"Mmmm." Evan blinked when she sighed dramatically. He flipped the borrowed t-shirt across his shoulder and lowered his chin, giving her a pointed stare.

"Fine!" She snorted. "But no peeking!"

Evan smirked and tugged the zipper down. "Nothing I haven't seen before…"

"Oooh, wrong answer…" Jen heard Sanchez mutter.

"No sense of self preservation." Ellis added. "You know pregnant women are hormonal enough to get away with murder? Completely insane, I tell ya."

"Murder, huh." Sanchez commented.

"Kill you with their bare hands then go right back to cooking supper." Ellis nodded knowingly.

"Damn." Sanchez whistled.

"Yup." Browne said sadly, shaking his head slowly. "And he was such a great CO, too…"

"I am going to miss him…" Ellis dropped his head and let out a long sigh.

"You know…" Evan called over his shoulder as he turned Jen away from him and eased the now open jacket down over her shoulders. "I'm pretty sure _I_ wasn't the one who left the Doc alone in the jumper with a drug crazed maniac… but I'm sure Ronon will understand… You guys be sure to explain it to him… in detail… when he gets here, hmm?"

Jen grinned over her shoulder at him.

"Lovely weather we're having!" Ellis snapped out, earning him boisterous nods from the other two, and comments on the grey skies and drab foliage outside the cavern.

Jen half laughed and half sneezed, earning her a worried frown from Evan. She shivered when he finally extracted her injured arm from around her torn left sleeve. He tossed the jacket onto the floor.

"Okay." He stepped behind her again, and turned her so she was facing away from both him and the others. "Wet shirt off, dry shirt on."

Jen tugged at the bottom hem of her sleeveless shirt but only managed to get it halfway before she had to stop, unable to hook it up over her injured shoulder. Evan lifted the material higher, and freed her arms before pulling it up over her head and adding it to the growing pile on the floor.

Jen barely had time to register the fact that she was standing in her bra in the middle of a freezing cold cave, with four men, before the neck hole of Browne's t-shirt was pulled down over her head. She quickly stuck her right arm through the sleeve, then let Evan guide her left until she was completely draped in the Lieutenants shirt. She glanced down to where the material covered her almost to her knees.

"Pants." Evan ordered.

Jen turned to argue but took one look at his expression and snapped her mouth closed. She shook her head and glared at him, fumbling with the button at her waist. When she finally managed to unhook it she shimmied out of her pants, which dropped almost immediately beneath the weight of the mud coating them. Evan kicked them over towards her discarded jacket and shirt.

Then he put his hands on her shoulder and propelled her closer to the fire. Jen sat, fumbling to get the shirt under her bum. Tucking her legs as close to her body as possible, she crossed her arms and shuddered again.

"Oh yeah, much better…" She muttered sarcastically, her skin breaking out into well formed goosebumps.

"I didn't say I was finished." Evan bent down and whispered in her ear, spreading his own stripped-off t-shirt over her legs. Then he straightened up, and turned towards the trio who were pretending to admire a spot on the wall in front of them.

"Gentlemen… we're gonna need more layers."

* * *

As the Jumper entered the upper atmosphere, John continued trying to contact the Major and his team. He paused his repeated calls, and glanced over his shoulder into the cargo area. "Does he seem a little more… you know… than normal?" John whispered to Teyla, tipping his head towards Ronon, who was standing in cargo area in the back of the jumper, one hand holding the bulkhead, the other spinning his blaster around and around.

Rodney snorted in disgust. "You can tell, how?"

Teyla glanced behind her then turned towards the Colonel. "He is… concerned."

John snorted. Concerned was definitely _not_ the word he would have used. Agitated. Fidgety. Troubled. Disturbed. Those would be closer to the point. The man had practically trampled McKay in his insistence on getting the Jumper to the planet as quickly as possible.

John knew Ronon and the Doc had hooked up a while back, but lately it seemed that the Satedan was taking his guard-dog duty a little _too_ seriously.

"Major Lorne, this is Colonel Sheppard. Come in." He tried again as the jumper dropped through the lower atmosphere.

"Sensors are picking up life signs." Rodney leaned forward in his chair.

John activated the HUD, flashing on a wide area display of the planet.

"Five there…" Rodney pointed to a cluster of red dots that overlapped each other. "And one there." His index finger shifted slightly to the left and a lone red dot. "About a kilometer apart. No other life signs."

John felt a slight dropping in his tension level to know that the uninhabited planet appeared to be still… well… uninhabited.

"Major Lorne… Doctor Keller… This is Colonel Sheppard. Do you read?"

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Captain Sanchez." The signal was crackling with the distance, but John was relieved to hear vocal confirmation.

"Sanchez." He acknowledged, taking note of the quiet, calm tone in the Captain's voice. Quiet and calm meant no major disasters. "You missed your curfew."

"Yes, sir." The Captain admitted. "Sorry about that. Car trouble. Seems Triple-A didn't want to accept the Major's credit-card."

John grinned. If the Captain was making jokes, then the situation couldn't be anything too life threatening.

"Is everyone okay, Captain?"

"Right as rain, sir." Sanchez paused. "Sort of."

"Sort of?" John's brow furrowed.

"Nothing… life threatening, Sir." The Captain paused briefly before continuing. "Is Ronon with you?"

"What?" Ronon growled, moving further into the front compartment, his fingers digging into the back of Teyla's chair.

"We… I mean, I… uhh… I just wanted to let you know that the… um… package? Is just fine."

"Package?" John frowned at Teyla's soft snort.

The Athosian glanced from Ronon to John, prompting John to also turn and look at Ronon, but, if at all possible, the Satedan's expression was even more unexpressive than usual.

Rodney, seated behind John, looked up from his tablet, catching the odd staring match. "What package?"

Ronon glared at the scientist and Rodney muttered a "whatever" under his breath before turning away.

John looked forward again, moving the jumper down until it skimmed across the tops of the trees, slowing as they passed over the cluster of life signs beneath the heavy forested canopy below them. A large clearing opened up in front of them, revealing a muddy bog, and the disabled jumper.

John took one look at the charred and dented rear compartment and cursed. "Captain… what the hell did you do to my jumper?"

"Wasn't me, Sir!" Came the emphatic reply.

A loud clanging made them all jump. "What the hell?" John muttered, noting the confused expressions on the others faces. A second clattering ping was immediately followed by a third and a forth. John turned the jumper around slowly, gaining a better view of the clearing.

Teyla raised herself up out of her chair and leaned forward across the console. "Is that…"

Rodney and Ronon both moved forward, angling themselves between Teyla and John to get a look.

"Dr. Keon?" Rodney let out an incredulous squeak when a mud caked rock slammed into the front screen of the jumper.

"Um… Captain?" John stared at the sight in front of them. "You, ah, wouldn't happen to know why there is a slightly-overweight, very muddy, _extremely_ naked, white man throwing rocks at my jumper?"

Silence. Then a snicker. "That would be Dr. Keon, Sir. He… consumed… a handful of Tallulan berries before we could stop him."

"Tallulan berries?" John made a face, and glanced at Teyla. "Aren't those…"

"Hallucinogenic." Sanchez confirmed over the com.

"God I'm going to have nightmares for a week…" Rodney exclaimed, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips. "I need to wash my eyeballs."

Teyla rolled her eyes and sighed. "I did warn him…"

"He's an engineer." Rodney snorted, waving his hand dismissively, smirking at the naked man who was shouting and waving his arms while running in circles through the field below. "All he heard was blah-blah-berries-blah-blah…"

"There are days when I really don't want to know the answers to the questions I ask…" John mumbled under his breath. "Did anyone _else_ eat any of the berries?" He asked, his voice at a normal volume.

"No, Sir." Sanchez replied.

"Is he… armed?" Teyla asked, watching as the engineer bent to pick up a P90 from the dirt at his feet, then cocked his arm back and tossed it at the front of the jumper. It clattered off the side and fell to the mud below.

"Guess not." Rodney snorted.

"We're pretty sure he's finally out of ammunition." Sanchez replied to her query.

"_Finally_?" John instantly zoomed in on the word.

There was silence, and a muted argument off the com. John narrowed his gaze, wondering just how much truth was in the statement that no one else ate any of the damn berries. Life signs indicated the others were together, in the same spot, about a mile and a half to the west. But that didn't mean they weren't having some kind of group-berry halucination.

"Sanchez," John asked setting the jumper down next to it's counterpart. "Where's Lorne?"

"He's… um… indisposed?" Sanchez stammered, making the word more of a question than a statement.

"Indisposed?" Teyla repeated, her expression mirroring John's own wariness.

"He's… with… the Doc." Sanchez replied.

John stood up and moved towards the back of the jumper, following Ronon, who was dropping the rear hatch.

"Is he hurt?" Teyla quickly asked, stepping up behind the Colonel.

"No, no." Sanchez answered. "Nothing like that."

"Is the Doc?"

"Nothing life threatening." Sanchez said vaguely. "Just a graze"

John winced when Ronon reacted to the '_graze'_.

"What!?" The Satedan growled into his com.

"Captain I strongly suggest you finish that thought…" John warned as Ronon jumped off the edge of the ramp before it settled into the muck.

More muffled arguing sounded off the com then Lieutenant Browne's voice cut in. "Dr. Keon thought Dr. Keller was a Wraith Queen and tried to shoot her."

"He what!" Ronon practically shouted, taking two quick strides towards the front of the jumper and the open field, yanking his blaster out of his holster.

John cursed and jumped after Ronon.

"She's fine!" Sanchez broke in, his voice hurried. "Honest. It's just a scratch! Nothing a little polysporin wouldn't cure."

At the sight of the new arrivals, Dr. Keon screeched and dropped to his knees, grabbing fistfulls of wet mud at pitching them at the foursome. Ronon stunned the engineer before he could finish another toss. With a jerk and a strangled cough, Dr. Keon fell onto his back in the mud, unconscious.

Without pausing, Ronon turned and headed across the clearing.

"Ronon!" John called after him, but the Satedan didn't stop.

"Captain… you have incoming." John's gaze snapped from the muddy, naked body of the unconscious engineer, to the man striding purposely towards the trees.

"Roger, that." Sanchez said, his voice only slightly worried.

"Go." Teyla gave John a push, angling her head towards Ronon, who was disappearing behind the trees. "We'll take care of Dr. Keon." She turned and tugged Rodney towards the sprawled engineer.

"What?" Rodney exclaimed. "Oh come on… Seriously? Why me? Can't we at least… cover him up so I don't have to look? Therapy. I'm headed straight for therapy…"

John ignored Rodney's painful muttering and took off after Ronon. He was beginning to get the feeling that it was definitely not just Dr. Keon who'd eaten the berries. His mind tried to calculate the time it was going to take to do the paperwork if Ronon had to stun the lot of them, and sent up a sudden panicked prayer that no one else was running around naked… _Oh hell…_ He doubled his speed. "I suggest you get the Doc on the radio…"

"Uh… I can't do that, Sir." Captain Sanchez admitted, his voice almost apologetic.

"And why the hell not?"

"She doesn't have her com…"

"Then give her yours." He almost followed it with a drawn out _duh_.

"Can't do that, Sir. We've been ordered not to…" Sanchez said slowly.

"Put Major Lorne on!" John ordered.

"Can't do that either, Sir."

"Why the hell not!?"

"He's.. not allowed to talk… right now?"

_What the hell? _Exasperated, John shoved his way past the thick branches and hurried to catch up to Ronon, who was going freakishly fast for someone with such a big frame moving through such narrow branches. "Captain…" He warned. "If you don't explain yourself fast, I'm not going to be held responsible for what's about to happen next…"

"Sorry, Sir." Browne's voice cut in, the edges of his smile evident in the happy admittance . "Truth be told… we're…ah… more afraid of the Doc right now… Sorry Ronon."

Ronon's low rumble of laughter distracted John enough that he stumbled. _What the hell was he laughing about?_ This was most definitely _not_ funny. "I thought you said no one else ate the berries?"

"No one did." Sanchez confirmed.

"Then what's wrong with the Doc?"

"Nothing." Browne answered.

"I swear to god I'll shoot you myself if you two don't stop talking in circles." John cursed, shoving a heavy branch out of his way, his anger giving it a sharp snap.

"She didn't… she's just…" Sanchez began.

"Aw hell. She's sleeping." Browne answered. "And we've been ordered under threat of pain _not_ to wake her up."

"She's sleeping." John answered, incredulously. He ducked the return swing of the thick branch a millisecond before it would have connected with his forehead. Continuing forward, he stepped around a large stump and fell in behind Ronon, who'd reached the edge of a narrow, shallow creek and was quickly moving upstream.

"Yes, Sir." Sanchez repeated. "She's sleeping."

"And where is the Major?" John stood on the edge of the tiny creek and held his breath, really, really hoping for a normal, not Pegasus related, please don't let Ronon want to kill anyone, kind of answer.

"He's… her pillow?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay in posting! FF was giving me issues. But here it is!!! :) Thanks for waiting!!! - Nika**

* * *

Ronon overrode his overwhelming urge to get to Jennifer, and stopped in the middle of the creek. He knew and understood that Jennifer was fine – the Major wouldn't have let anything happen to her… she was safe. But it didn't alleviate his urge to find her, and let his eyes show his heart what his mind was trying to tell him.

But there was one thing he needed to do first.

He turned around, and watched as Sheppard dropped into the water, his boots splashing loudly as he strode through the inch deep creek. John stopped beside him, and Ronon couldn't stop the grin from forming.

"What?" The Colonel eyed him warily. "Why'd you stop? And more importantly…why… are you smiling?"

"Jennifer's pregnant." Ronon stared pointedly at his friend. "Just thought you should know."

John blinked.

Twice.

Then he took a deep breath, ran his hand through his hair, then dropped his arm to his side. "Pregnant?" He exhaled. "And it's... you know… yours?"

Ronon raised both eyebrows.

"Hey, hey… okay… just making sure, buddy." John said hurriedly, holding both hands up, palms forward. Then he sighed. "Well, hell." He shook his head slowly back and forth, hesitating only a moment before breaking out into a wide grin. "There goes the neighbourhood."

Ronon laughed. He knew he was probably grinning like an idiot, but somehow, he didn't really care.

"Shit." The Colonel shook his head with a snort. "That explains… well… it explains a hell of a lot, actually." John clamped Ronon on the shoulder. "Congratulations!" Then he took a step back and angled his chin upstream. "Come on, Dad. Let's go find Junior."

"Junior?" Ronon frowned.

John stepped forward, the water splashing over their boots as they strode through the narrow creek. "Boy or girl?"

"Don't know." Ronon answered. "Healthy."

John smirked. "You know, I hear John is a rather popular boys name these days…"

"Don't you already have one child named after you that's not yours?"

John shrugged. "Your point?"

"What if it's a girl?"

"Then god help us all…" John muttered.

Ronon glanced over at him.

"Jeeze, Chewey… you go Rambo enough when it's just Doc in trouble… I can't even begin to imagine the hellfire you're gonna bring down when your daughter starts dating…"

"She's _not_ dating."

John clamped him on the shoulder and shook his head with mock sadness. "You, my friend, are doomed."

* * *

Splashing footsteps ahead quickly revealed the form of Lieutenant Browne, who strode through the water on his way to meet up with them.

"Colonel. Ronon." He nodded smartly, slowing, then turning to walk with them.

"What the hell happened to you?" Ronon gave the mud caked man a once over.

"What?" Browne dropped his chin, and examined the front of his TAC vest. He flicked a large glop of mud off the side of his shoulder. "Better?"

"Yeah." John nodded. "Makes all the difference."

The Lieutenant lead them around the corner, the edge of the creek bed opening up into a wide, rocky plateau. Water cascaded down across the wide flat surface, rushing over the toes of their boots. To their left, the forest was heavy and dark, the sounds of night settling around them. To the right, the escarpment jutted up above their heads, the shadows long and hollow against the dark sky. Behind a low border of scrub and bushes, a section of the rock wall dropped back in on itself, scooped out to form a wide mouthed cave. The scent of a fire was sharp and sweet, its muted orange light flickered off the walls from within.

More splashing to their left turned the trio away from the cave and towards Captain Sanchez, who was coming from further up river.

Ronon glanced from one muddy man to the other.

"Do I want to know?" John raised an eyebrow.

Sanchez grinned and shook his head. "Probably not."

"Right." John took a deep breath.

"Found us a closer parking spot." The Captain glanced from Ronon to John, then angled his head back in the direction he'd just come from. "'Bout a hundred yards up."

John nodded. "Don't scratch the paint."

As Sanchez and Browne headed downstream to move the working Jumper closer, Ronon turned and headed towards the cave. He could see the fire, blocked out in the middle of the opening, and directly behind it, the shadowed shape of a form lying on the rocky ground. From the size he knew it was the Major, lying on his side, and holding a bundled up lump with wavy blonde hair.

Lieutenant Ellis straightened out from his position against the wall and walked forward, his voice hushed. "She's still asleep."

"Why are you whispering?" Ronon raised an eyebrow.

Ellis looked at him like he'd sprouted a horn. "Because she's... sleeping?" He whispered.

John smirked, his voice normal. "You've never had to try to wake the Doc up, huh."

Ellis glanced quickly at Ronon, then back to his Colonel. "Um... no?"

"Trauma surgeon." John nodded. "Woman could sleep through a war."

Ronon nodded. "You'd have to shoot her to wake her up."

Ellis glanced behind him. "Oh."

Ronon stepped around the Lieutenant and headed towards the back of the cave, his eyes not missing the pile of wet, muddy clothes on the ground next to Jennifer's boots. Pants... jacket... shirt... If those were her clothes... He stopped so suddenly Ellis nearly smacked into him.

"She was wet. Cold." The Lieutenant hurried to explain.

Ronon stepped forward, his wide strides taking him past the fire. He supposed the earlier description of Jennifer using the Major as a pillow was about as good as any. Although _blanket_ might have been more appropriate. With the shadows and flickering light from the fire, it was very difficult to tell where one body began, and the other ended. Wearing a standard issue t-shirt, and covered in a couple more, Jennifer was completely flattened against the Major's bare chest.

Evan lay on his left side, and Jennifer on her right, their limbs tangled around each other. With Jennifer's face tucked in against his right shoulder, Evan's left arm wrapped up around her head, and his right arm draped down across her hip, his fingers tucked in beneath her side. With her right arm pinned between their bodies, Jennifer had her top leg wedged between Evan's thighs, and her injured arm hooked up around his neck.

Ronon realized their nearness was for heat, and couldn't fault Evan for doing his job, for keeping her safe, but their incredibly intimate position left him feeling a tension across his chest he didn't like.

And the Major knew it - judging by the challenging look he was giving.

Ronon took a deep breath and shoved down the demon, then dropped to a squat beside the Major.

"She okay?" He asked, glancing at the bandage on Jennifer's arm.

Evan nodded, as much as he could with the top of Jennifer's head under his chin. "Graze. Painful, but it's not deep. I think it freaked her out more than anything."

Ronon nodded, his eyes locked on the gauze, until Evan cleared his throat. Ronon turned back towards the Major, who was watching him expectantly.

"A little help?" Evan asked.

Ronon raised an eyebrow.

"Are you nuts?" Evan made a face. "_I'm_ not waking her up..."

Ronon snorted and stood, moving around the Major to squat behind Jennifer. When Evan tried to extract himself, Ronon had to unclasp her fingers from the Major's hair, as Jennifer muttered curses at him in her sleep.

Evan slid to the side, giving Ronon room to step in between them. Then he rolled onto his back with a groan, then moved to his feet, stretching his shoulders, giving his left arm a shake.

Ronon sat down in the vacated spot, crossed his legs, and lifted Jennifer up onto his lap.

Burrowing her face in against his neck, Jennifer inhaled slowly, and snuggled down against him. "Your late..." she mumbled.

"Sorry." He snorted.

John handed Evan his shirt, which he'd picked up from the ground near the fire.

"Problem?" Evan raised an eyebrow as he took the shirt.

"You're blinding me." John smirked.

"Then send me someplace that doesn't resemble England. Sun. Sand. Tropical beach, perhaps?"

"I'll get right on that..." The Colonel nodded.

Evan paused. "I should be more careful what I wish for..."

John grinned. "Did I say anything?"

"No, but I know that look." Evan winced as the cold, wet, mucky material slapped against his back. He adjusted his belt and reseated his M9 against his right hip.

"What look?" John pointed a finger towards his face and his expression of mock innocence. "This look?"

"That would be the one..." Evan scowled, and took the TAC vest Ellis held out. It was still set for Jennifer's small frame so he had to readjust the straps, before he was able to yank it down over his head.

"Gain some weight?" John laughed.

"Doc was wearing it last." Ellis, earning him a quick glance from both Ronon and the Colonel. "What?"

Evan rolled his eyes, and quickly explained their need to run from the mud hill to the trees.

"Ah." John nodded, once the Major's brief explanation was over.

"We _wanted_ to shoot him..." Ellis added. "Doc wouldn't let us. Something about an oath?"

"Taxi's here." Sanchez called from the front of the cave, his voice a harsh whisper.

"Why are you..." Rodney walked past him and stopped beneath the overhang.

"Whispering?" Teyla finished.

"Uh..." Sanchez gave them both a blank stare. "Doc's sleeping?"

Rodney snorted. "You've obviously never been to the infirmary in the middle of the night. The woman could fall asleep sitting on a wooden bench in the middle of grand central station at rush hour."

"Grand central station?" Teyla asked, moving towards the back of the small cave, unfolding a grey, woolen blanket.

"Transportation station." John added. "Incredibly noisy. Lots of people running around."

"Ah." Teyla nodded, helping to tuck the blanket around Jennifer once Ronon stood up.

"How does Carson put it?" Rodney frowned, then snapped his fingers and nodded. "Och lass, the regimental pipers could play on yer' feet..." He began, his tongue rolling with a smart, Scottish brogue.

"And ya'd still be sleeping like a wee bairn." Teyla finished with a grin.

"Not bad." Rodney pursed his lips and nodded.

"Thank you." Teyla smiled.

"Well that was... odd." Evan blinked.

"You two have been spending far too much time together." John wiggled his finger between Rodney and Teyla. "That whole finishing each others sentences thing?" He scowled and stepped closer, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "Creepy..."

"What?" Rodney frowned and looked at Teyla. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The Athosian shook her head with a slight frown and raised her shoulders.

After kicking out the fire and gathering the rest of their things, the group stepped out into the darkness, the last of the light giving them barely enough to see by as the walked through the water. Banking around a corner they could see the yawning opening of the back of the Jumper just ahead.

Jennifer jerked in Ronon's arms, her eyes snapping open. "I don't want the spicy pickles!" She shouted, then cursed and closed her eyes.

Ronon rolled his eyes and exhaled, the burst of adrenaline kicking his heart into a higher beat as Jennifer settled in against him with a soft sigh.

Evan burst out laughing then clamped his hand over his mouth. "Shit. I forgot she does that."

Walking up into the back of the jumper, Ronon stepped over the prone form of Dr. Keon, who mud covered form was draped in a blanket and jammed against the far side of the cargo area. He settled himself against the wall, with Jennifer in his lap. He'd still not gotten used to the random things she shouted in her sleep. He knew people occasionally _talked_ in their sleep... but until Jennifer, he'd never met anyone who actually _yelled_. She never woke up, and never remembered what she'd said, yet she always managed to scare the living hell out of him when she did because she looked completely awake while she was doing it.

"Remember the time on 276 when she sat up screaming about monsters in the dirt?" Ellis laughed, taking a seat in the rear compartment across from Ronon and Jennifer. Slouching back against the bulkhead, he stretched out his legs and rested his boots on Dr. Keon's hip, crossing his ankles comfortably.

"Didn't Corporal Brady almost shot himself in the foot?" Browne snorted, holding his position near the rear hatch while everyone filed into the jumper.

"He did." Evan nodded, following Sheppard to the front and sitting in the copilots seat.

"He really _did_ shoot himself in the foot?" Browne asked, his face a wide grin. "I mean, I knew the guy was a little slow on the uptake... but still... "

"Makes you wonder how he does it, huh." Sanchez shook his head with confusion, sitting in one of the seats next to Ellis.

"Does what?" Rodney asked, moving forward to sit down in the front seat behind the Colonel.

"Gets a date." Sanchez answered as Browne closed the rear hatch then dropped into a seat beside him.

"Have you seen the guy?" Rodney snorted, then immediately recognized his mistake. "I mean... not that I've... I'm... I'm just saying..."

"Corporal Brady is certainly nice to look at..." Teyla began, brushing past Rodney to sit in the chair beside him. "Although it is rare to see his brain make it any higher than his pants."

She looked up as seven pairs of male eyes all turned towards her.

"What?" She blinked. "Did I not say that correctly?"

"No..." John gave her a curious stare. "You said that correctly."

Evan cleared his throat and turned forward. "You really need to stop hanging out with Laura."

"If I am not to spend so much time with Rodney... or Laura..." Teyla suggested. "Then who am I to spend time with?"

John glanced over his shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows.

Teyla rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the smile.

"Fly." She ordered.

"Yes ma'am." John turned back around and lifted the jumper smoothly into the air. "Let's go home."


	8. Chapter 8 The Third Month

**The Third Month**

Jen let out a curse and squatted down to pick up the files she'd dropped. Her fingers trembled slightly as she reached for the reports, and she snatched her hand back, quickly gripping it into a tight fist. She took a deep breath and exhaled, then opened her fingers and gave her hand a rapid shake.

She tried – she really tried to think good thoughts. The power of positive thinking, and all that. The Daedalus was due back tomorrow, and the news Mr. Woolsey brought back with him would be good. He _wouldn't_ be bringing her orders to go home. He _wouldn't_ be rescinding her position as CMO. He _wouldn't_ be sending her back to Earth. Alone.

The all-to-familiar tension settled across her chest and she let out a shaky breath. Ever since she'd told Woolsey her news, she'd been a basket of nerves. It had gotten so bad that Carson had threatened to confine her to bed if she didn't start sleeping, start eating, and start believing.

But somehow she couldn't make it work.

She was too scared.

Jen had experienced the IOA and their rules and regulations first hand, too many times, not to know they wouldn't be kind. She understood what the military regulated when it came to expeditions, and any kind of human contact. But the worst part was knowing _exactly_ what would be waiting for her the minute she stepped through the gate to Earth.

And that was what terrified her the most.

Taking a deep breath she clenched then unclenched her fingers, praying they'd stay still long enough to clean up. After another quick shake, she reached forward again, scooped up the papers and stood.

The air moved behind her and she jumped, unable to stop a startled gasp as she spun around, dropping the file a second time.

Ronon dropped his chin and raised his eyebrows with a soft sigh. "_What_ did I tell you?"

Jen exhaled slowly, and shook her head. "I know." She muttered. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head and squatted, quickly gathering the papers. Then he straightened and held them out to her.

Jen quickly grabbed the folder, hoping to hide the trembling in her fingers but she should have known better than to try to keep something that noticeable from a man who noticed everything.

In one smooth movement, he snagged her outstretched hand with his left, tossed the file on her desk with his right, and pulled her against him.

With her arms clamped around his waist, Jen fisted her hands tightly in the back of his shirt, and burrowed against his chest, wishing the world away. He hunched his shoulders and enveloped her with his strength and warmth.

"Jennifer…" He said softly, his breath soft against the top of her head. "You're going to make yourself sick. Or worse."

"I'm sorry." She mumbled. "I know. I'm trying, I really am…"

Ronon leaned back and angled his head, lowering his chin to bring his eyes closer to hers. He could feel the scattered beat of her heart beneath his palms, while she tried very hard to convince him she was breathing normally.

She lifted her head, her eyes betraying the turmoil he knew she was carrying so heavily inside.

"You have nothing to fear." He said firmly.

"Ronon…" She shook her head. "You don't know what these people are capable of."

"_These_ people… are _your_ people." He scowled, not needing to remind her that _his_ people would never consider separating a family for such an idiotic reason. And yet the people from Earth considered themselves an advanced society.

Jen nodded. "I know. And it's times like these I really wish they weren't."

"Jennifer." He shook his head, his arms tightening as she fell against him once again. "No one… is going to take you… anywhere."

"Oh, Ronon…" She whispered, her strained voice muffled against the front of his shirt. "I'm so scared."

Her confession speared through his heart and into his soul. He knew she was frightened, but to hear Jennifer actually _admit_ it - a woman who tried with such desperation to put up a brave front no matter what - left a raw, burning wound. His chest tightened and he swallowed. Then the pain was quickly replaced by an erupting anger. Anger at the people who would dare treat her with such disrespect. He took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, centering the fury into a tight ball deep inside, storing it's energy for later.

"We've done everything to your rules." He reminded her. "Now it's time for mine."

Jen exhaled with a tiny shudder, her body vibrating lightly against his chest. "Okay." She nodded, lifting her head, the unwavering trust in her eyes squeezing his heart. "When do we leave?"

"After your shift."

She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Now… enough worrying." He ordered, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. He released her reluctantly and stepped back. "I'm going to get you something to eat."

"I'm not-"

"And-" He cut her off. "You're going to eat it. Or I'm calling Beckett."

She narrowed her eyes. "Tattletale."

"Hmm." He frowned, then leaned forward to claim her mouth as she laughed against his lips. "Now get back to work." He ordered against her mouth.

"Yes, sir." She smiled, shoving off him and walking backwards into the main room.

He nodded and stepped around her, and headed into the hallway. He'd already planned for this day, knowing what she'd told him about the IOA and their policies. He knew there was more to the story – details she was purposely leaving out – details that frightened her. He didn't push, but her underlying worry became his. She was upset and nervous, not sleeping and not eating. Ronon worried for both her and the safety of the baby. She should be celebrating her condition, not spending her days terrified she was about to be banished.

He shook his head as he strode down the hallway.

No one was taking her away from him.

And that was final.

He spotted Sheppard and Lorne walking down an intersecting hallway and stopped, waiting while they approached.

"Hey." He nodded in greeting, frowning at their BDU's. "Thought you two were off today?"

"We were…" John frowned.

"Now we're not." Evan added.

Ronon glanced from one to the other.

"Apparently protocol states that we need to be on hand to greet the new recruits." John rolled his eyes.

Ronon frowned. "A little ahead of yourself?"

Evan shook his head. "Daedalus left early. They landed about twenty minutes ago."

Ronon blinked. "What!"

Both John and Evan winced at Ronon's half-shout. Then the two men gave each other a curious glance when Ronon cursed, spun on his heel and took off running down the hallway.

With a cursing burst of adrenaline they took off after him, boots slamming hard into the smooth floor of the corridor.

It wasn't the fact that the Satedan was moving at full speed towards the infirmary that launched them into action… it was the fact that Ronon was moving at full speed towards the infirmary with his _blaster_ in his hand.

* * *

_What Jennifer saw_, as she turned to set the empty box on the floor and pick up the next one, was Richard Woolsey, entering through the back half of the infirmary. Her heart kicked and she straightened quickly, eyes wide, staring at the man as he walked slowly towards her. But it was the security team with him that made her stop breathing. Two young Marines she didn't know, wearing Daedalus insignias, striding towards her behind the director.

Security.

He'd brought security?

_Oh god._

Jen knew from the overly serious and slightly apologetic look on Richard's face that her fears were valid.

They were sending her home.

She took a step back. But security teams? Custody? Surly the IOA couldn't mean here… now… Her heart hammered behind her rib cage and the room suddenly seemed too bright. Too warm. Too far to the exit.

She forgot about the small box she was holding, the stiff cardboard falling from her fingers and spilling dozens of small plastic pill bottles across the smooth floor with a scattered rattling. Marie turned and dropped, scurrying to gather up the rolling bottles as they careened out of control in all directions.

Jen couldn't seem to convince her lungs to work. Her chest ached and her knees buckled. In a whimpering panic she stepped back, her left foot coming down on top of one of the rolling bottles. Her ankle twisted and she stumbled, her equilibrium shot to hell as she tried to reach blindly behind her for the workbench. The room was spinning violently, her drunken staggers causing the two Marines to rush towards her as she fell. Her last coherent thought as the first security officer grabbed her arm, was that it was at least nice of him to keep her from hitting her head.

* * *

_What Ronon saw_ as he rounded the corner and barreled into the infirmary, was Jennifer falling as she stumbled away from two Marines he didn't know. He saw the terror on her face as she fell, her futile attempt to push the man away as she lost consciousness.

Ronon leapt forward, his blaster raised as he shouted. "Get away from her!"

He slid to a stop next to a startled Marie, who'd dropped all the bottles in her attempt to get to Jennifer when she saw what was happening. Containers rolled and clattered across the floor as she jumped back, changing her mind when Ronon barreled forward.

Ronon bent and snagged Jennifer with his left arm, then straightened and elbowed the Marine in the face with his right, sending the man staggering backwards in surprise.

* * *

_What Corporal Ross saw_ right before the pain exploded in the front of his head, was an elbow.

* * *

_What Sergeant McAllister saw_, after looking up from the pretty, blond doctor who tripped over some bottles she'd dropped, was a very large, very fast moving, very angry man, holding a very big gun, running very quickly towards him. When the big man leapt for the doctor, then dropped Ross with a single blow, McAllister jumped back, his sidearm in his hand without hesitation.

* * *

_What Evan and John saw_, as they almost collided in their haste to avoid a trio of nurses who were rushing out of the infirmary, was a standoff.

Ronon, arm extended and blaster raised was standing sideways, supporting an unconscious Jennifer with his left arm, blocking her from the weapon that one of the Marines from the Daedalus was aiming at the Satedan. Both men were shouting for the other to drop their weapon, yet neither appeared to be willing to step down first.

Marie squatted on the floor beside them, next to the sprawled form of an unconscious Corporal.

Neither the Colonel nor the Major had any idea what transpired, but both understood the need to stop it.

_Immediately_.

They dove forward, shouts of "stand down" echoing off the walls of the medical area. Launching themselves in between the two combatants, John shoved Ronon's blaster arm towards the floor as Evan relieved the Sergeant of his weapon.

The shouting continued as McAllister pleaded his case, accusing Ronon of attacking Ross, while Ronon was equally angry, cursing them for trying to take Jennifer away. Evan shouted for McAllister to back off, and John shouted for Ronon to see to the Doc, while Marie tried to get help for the unconscious man on the floor, but no one could hear her over the others.

* * *

_What Carson Beckett saw_, from his position in the back of the room next to Richard Woolsey, was everything.

His piercing whistle brought the room to a silent halt.

"Enough!" He shouted, stomping forward with an angry gait, his brogue thick from the force of his emotion. "You!" He pointed at Ronon. "Get Jennifer right to the back and get her into a bed. I'll be right there. You two…" He pointed to John and Evan, then to the man on the floor. "Help Marie get the lad off the floor. You!" He pointed at McAllister. "Back away before I deck ya' meself. And when ye're all done I want the lot of ya' ta' stand here, and yer not tae move. This isn't the OK Corral! How dare ya' upset a wee pregnant lass like that? You aught to be ashamed! Ye'll wait here until I'm done and I swear to the good Lord if even _one_ of ya' moves from this spot I'll let the big man shoot ya where ya stand! Do I make myself clear?"

A chorus of acknowledgement accompanied their movements.

"Yes, that includes, you!" Carson jabbed a finger towards Richard, who'd opened his mouth to speak.

Woolsey quickly snapped his jaw closed and stepped out of the way of the storming doctor.

"Bloody alpha-males…" Carson cursed as he turned and headed deeper into the infirmary after Ronon and Jennifer. "I ought tae shoot ya' myself!"


	9. Chapter 9

Laura slid to a stop inside the infirmary, her eyes locking immediately on the Colonel and the Major. She hurried towards them. "Where's the Doc?"

Evan angled his chin towards the far end of the infirmary. "In the back."

Laura spun but the Major stopped her with a grip to her upper arm. "Uh-uh." He shook his head. "You can't go back there… Beckett's orders."

"But-"

"No one." Evan pulled her around towards him.

"But I-"

"Not even you." John added.

Laura frowned as she noticed the tiny bottles that two of the nurses were cleaning up, then her eyes landed on Corporal Ross in a bed in the corner. She snapped around to McAllister, who was sitting in a chair in the corner next to Richard Woolsey. "What happened?"

"Doc fainted." John said with a shrug. "Ronon dropped the Corporal."

"Shit." Laura cursed. "She okay?"

"Far as we know." Evan answered.

"Where's Ronon?" Laura asked quickly, her eyes on Richard, who was making additions to a document on his tablet.

"With Jen." John frowned. "Why?"

"Marie!" Laura called, shrugging off Evan's grip as she noticed the head nurse hurrying towards them.

Marie brushed past Evan and John, grabbed Laura's arm, and pulled the Lieutenant off into a corner. The two women carried on a whispered and heated discussion that involved frequent glances towards Richard and the two Marine's from the Daedalus.

"What's that all about?" Evan leaned his head towards John, his voice low.

"I don't know…" John answered warily. Stepping forward he made his way towards the corner with the Major at his heels.

Both women stopped speaking the minute the two men were within earshot. Marie looked upset, and Laura looked like she was plotting someone's death.

John narrowed his eyes and pinned the Lieutenant. "Out with it."

She blinked. "With what?"

"With whatever you two are conspiring." Evan finished.

Laura glanced at the nurse. Marie took a deep breath and held it, her eyes locked on Laura's as the two women carried on a silent conversation of looks.

"You have to get her out of here." Marie whispered harshly, turning to face John and leaning in close so as not to be overheard.

Evan looked at Laura and raised his eyebrow. "Wha'd you do?"

"Not me." Laura whispered. "Jen."

"We have to get Jennifer out of here?" John frowned, also whispering, although he wasn't sure why.

"Now." Marie nodded frantically. "Quickly."

"Why?" John drew the word out, but continued to keep his voice low.

"They're sending her back." Laura hissed.

"Back where?" Evan frowned.

"Earth." Marie reached out and grabbed John's wrist, pulling his attention directly around to her. "They're rescinding her post and sending her back to Earth. You can't let them take her!"

"They're what?!" Evan's voice was louder than he intended and he quickly snapped his mouth shut.

"The IOA's pulled her licence." Laura nodded furiously. "Effective immediately."

"How do you know?" John's gaze narrowed, flitting between the two women.

"I have my sources." Laura said defensively.

"Uh-huh." Evan scowled.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Look, it doesn't matter how I know…" she hissed. "What's important is that I know." She stepped closer, her eyes moving from one man to the other, her voice low and forceful. "We can _not _let them take her. _Please_. You have to help us get her out of here."

John blinked, and glanced sideways at Evan. The realization that Laura – a woman who would die before asking for help – was not only asking, she was _pleading. _It was not lost on either man. Yet there was also the niggling feeling there was a lot more to the story than just Jennifer being sent home.

"Please." Marie echoed, clasping her fingers in front of her and twisting them nervously. "Colonel. Major. I'm begging you. We'll do whatever we can to help, but she can't stay here any longer."

Laura nodded furiously.

"You're making it sound like she's going to be carted off to jail…" Evan muttered.

Laura stopped nodding and glanced at Marie, who looked suddenly frightened.

John raised and eyebrow, and dropped his chin, staring at the Lieutenant. "Okay what the hell is going on…"

Laura angled her head towards the nurse, who nodded and turned, rushing quickly into Jennifer's office.

Marie returned within seconds carrying a tablet. As she rushed through the menu screens, she hurried to explain. "When the IOA got the report on Teyla's pregnancy, they made some policy changes." Laura hissed, her anger evident as she clenched her jaw.

"What kind of… changes?" John demanded.

"The kind that involve... alien impregnation." Marie whispered, spinning the tablet around and handing it to John. "Section 12. Sub section B." She indicated the bottom half of the screen.

John glanced down at the paragraph, his body physically jerking as he digested what he was reading. He felt Evan's coiled reaction beside him as the Major read over his shoulder.

_This policy is to ensure that, in accordance with Section 9.5, the IOA now requires special consideration in detaining and evaluating pregnant women who's fetus is due to impregnation by a form of life assumed to exist outside the Earth or its atmosphere and that additional research as outlined in section 45, subsection 3 will be performed by detaining the subject and implementing a level 5 containment until which time as the offspring has been birthed, removed, or terminated._

As John re-read the paragraph, his heart stopped beating, only to resume as he reached the last three words. _Birthed. Removed. Terminated_. He lifted his head slowly, his eyes moving directly to Marie. "What the hell is this?" He asked, his voice very slow and very controlled.

Marie took a deep breath. "The IOA's new medical policies regarding…"

"Alien pregnancy." Laura finished with an angry hiss.

"_Detain_?" Evan gaped at the tablet the Colonel was trying to crush. "_Level 5 containment?!_"

"The minute she steps through the gate she'll be taken into custody and locked down in solitary like a lab rat until the baby's born." Laura said through clenched teeth.

John suddenly understood the urge to kill that was clearly evident in the Lieutenant's eyes.

"Do they not realize who the father is?" Evan angled his head, looking down the corridor towards the back of the infirmary.

"They don't care." Laura shook her head. "They're more interested in the research."

"Woolsey!" John snapped, spinning to face the Director, who nearly tumbled off the wheeled stool he was sitting on at the Colonel's shout.

"Colonel." Richard nodded, raising an eyebrow.

John strode over to the director and stopped in front of him. "What the hell kind of bullshit is this?" He thrust the tablet at Richard with such force that the Director winced. John jabbed his finger at the paragraph on the tablet.

Richard frowned, but kept his voice even as he accepted the tablet and read the paragraph out loud.

He paused.

Re-read it, his voice quiet.

He blinked and stood up.

Then read it again.

He looked at John. "Where did you get this?" Richard shook his head quickly, re-reading the paragraph one last time. "I can assure you, I was not privy to this. Nor would I have agreed, if that's what you're thinking. This is not the dark-ages. We do not lynch our pregnant women."

"Oh yea?" Laura challenged. "What was the IOA's decision?"

All eyes turned towards the director.

Richard inhaled slowly, blinked, then exhaled.

"Well?" John prompted, his fists clenched at his side.

"Dr. Keller's position has been recalled." Richard sighed to a chorus of disbelief. "Effective immediately. She's to return to Earth with the Daedalus." He held his hands up in defeat. "My plan was to continue to work to rescind the orders while the Daedalus made it's trip, and have her return on the next shuttle. But now… after having read this… I see that is not an option." He shook his head quickly. "And before you ask, yes. I made every effort to countermand their decision, but I'm afraid my position with the IOA is now considered… biased."

"Biased." Evan scowled.

Richard waved his hand over the tablet he still held. "It would seem I am no longer privy to the inner workings of our esteemed governing body." He scowled. "I can assure you. If I had even the slightest idea of this… this… policy… I would not have returned empty handed."

John exhaled a long low growl of anger and disbelief, jabbing his finger at the tablet. "How the hell could something like this get by you?"

"And why the hell didn't any of us know about this?" Evan glared, anger hardening his eyes.

"It's IOA Medical." Marie shook her head and stepped forward. "Not military. It was sent directly to Jennifer. Only the CMO would have access."

"Dear god, she _knows_?" Evan's shock was evident.

"Yeah." Laura nodded. "She's known for a while. Definitely not the kind of stress a pregnant woman needs to be under." She bit the inside of her cheek and glanced worredly at Evan. "Carson told her she could lose the baby if she didn't find a way to cut the stress."

"Fuck." John cursed, running his hand through his hair, turning his eyes towards the back of the infirmary. From his position against the wall he could see the big man standing stiffly at the end of one of the beds.

Knowing he was being watched Ronon's eyes shifted to John's. Something in the Colonel's face must have called to him for he stepped forward, but John shook his head. Ronon hesitated, but eventually turned back towards the bed.

"You think all those little humanitarian missions she's been on the last couple of weeks have been for fun?" Laura shook her head with an exasperated laugh. "They've been shopping for a new place to live."

"New place to live?" Richard blinked.

Laura snorted and leaned towards the director, prompting Evan to clamp a hand on her shoulder, holding her in place.

"Damn straight." She hissed, her face flushed, her body vibrating with anger. "What's she going to do? Let the IOA send her back to Earth? Spend the next six months locked in a glass cage while she's poked and prodded… studied like some kind of lab rat? Then have her child stolen from her so it can be sent to some scientific research facility like a bug to be dissected?"

"Lieutenant…" John warned, but his voice wasn't really in it.

Laura spun towards him. "What?!"

"Does Ronon know?" Evan tried, hoping to break down some of her contained fury.

"Do you honestly think you'd still be standing if he knew?" Laura said specifically, glancing directly at Richard Woolsey.

Richard swallowed. "I swear to you... I did not know."

"Ronon knows that she'd be sent home, and would never be allowed to return." Marie said softly, and everyone turned quickly as though they'd forgotten she was there. The head nurse shook her head, glancing around at the group. "They were leaving today."

"Leaving for where?" Evan asked.

"To the Genii." Laura answered. "Laden jumped on the chance to have Ronon head up the training and development of a new advanced task force. And once the baby is born, Jennifer would have free run of their scientific and medical teams." She took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "And all because they wanted a safe place to be a family."

John sighed, and glanced at Evan. "Remind me I owe that man a bottle of something half-descent."

Evan nodded. "And one hell of a favour."

"There is no need for Dr. Keller to be finding herself a new home." Richard said, removing his glasses and pinching his nose.

"You just said your orders were to send her home with the Daedalus." John countered.

"Yes, but-"

"No one's going anywhere." Rodney announced from the doorway as he bustled into the Infirmary with two more security guards in tow. He stopped between John and Evan and turned to his escorts with a flourish. "Will a Colonel or a Major do?" He waved a hand dramatically between Evan and John.

"Yes, sir." Both Marine's nodded and fired a snapping salute to John and Evan. "Colonel. Major." They echoed.

John blinked. "McKay?" He drew the word out slowly, forming it into a question.

The Marine on the left snapped his arm forward and handed Rodney a clipboard. His partner then held up a large manila envelope he'd had tucked under his arm.

The scientist quickly signed his name on the clipboard with a flourish then handed John the pen and the paper. "You're my witness."

"Witness for what?" John frowned.

"Would you just sign it!?" Rodney grumbled.

John scrawled a quick signature and handed the clipboard back to the Marine. Rodney reached forward and snatched the envelope from the first Marine, then gave them both a dismissive wave before tearing open the top of the package. John shot them both a cursory glance as the two Marines snapped another stone-faced salute then spun and disappeared into the hallway.

"You know, Caldwell's people really freak me out, sometimes." Evan muttered.

Beside him, Rodney yanked out a crisply folded piece of paper and read it, his mouth muttering as he followed the words. With a satisfied nod, he handed the sheet to Richard.

Woolsey frowned but accepted the open document, the flash of blue at the top of the letterhead not lost on the others.

"Is that…" John leaned forward, confirming what his eyes were telling his brain.

"The Presidential Seal?" Evan finished.

Richard nodded, quickly scanning the letter. He looked up, his expression both surprised and shocked as he handed the letter back to Rodney. Rodney took it then promptly held it out to John. The others crowded around, trying to read over his shoulder but John pulled back.

"Well?" Marie looked from John to Richard to Rodney, then back again. "What does it say?"

"It says…" John started.

"That Jennifer is on special assignment for the office of the President of the United States." Rodney cut him off. "Effective immediately."

"Any and all orders for reassignment need to be approved directly by the Oval Office." John read, then looked up, a slow grin spreading across his face as he acknowledged Rodney with a nod. "As of this minute, she's to remain on assignment of undetermined length to the Atlantis Expedition, destination Pegasus galaxy."

"That's good, right?" Marie asked.

Laura laughed and clapped her hands. "It means the IOA can't touch her. No one can!"

Then she squealed and launched herself at the scientist, kissing him soundly, then giving him a rib crunching hug. Rodney gave a disgusted snort and pealed her off him. Not wanting to miss out, Marie also gave him a fierce hug. Rodney shrugged it off with a dismissive wave of his hand, but everyone could see he was fighting a grin. Rodney reached into the envelope and extracted a small wad of documents, bound together by an elastic. Snapping it off he shuffled through the collection.

"What's that?" John asked, eyeing a familiar looking dark covered notebook.

Rodney handed over the collection.

"Well shit, Rodney." John blinked, staring down at the items in his hand. "How the hell did you pull this off?"

The scientist shook his head, unable to hide his proud smirk. "Saving the universe on multiple occasions has its benefits."

John held up the notebook and flipped it open, revealing a black and white photo of a familiar face. "It's a US Passport. Ronon's an American Citizen." John held up credit cards, bank cards, and identification, and then burst out laughing when he pointed out a Chippewa Falls library card.

"And technically no longer a "_form of life existing inside Earth_." He quoted the IOA's definition of an alien entity. "Apparently US Citizen's can't be aliens." He said with a cocky shrug. "Sub section 12."

Laura whopped and launched herself at Rodney, at the same time as Marie let out a shriek and did the same thing. Rodney nearly fell over under the sudden assault, making the others laugh at his shock and discomfort.

"Okay stop." Rodney muttered, his eyes sparking. The two women stepped back and Rodney took the documents back from John, and handed them to Laura. "Go."

Laura shook her head, refusing to take them. She held her hands up, palm out. "No way, Rodney. You did this. You tell them."

Rodney blanched and tried to hand them off to the others but no one would take them.

Richard clamped him on the shoulder and nodded encouragingly. "It's a great thing you've done here Dr. McKay. You should be proud."

John gave him a shove forward and Rodney stumbled off towards the end of the infirmary. No one could resist disobeying Carson for such an auspicious occasion, so they crept forward, stopping when they could see the bed at the far end.

Jennifer was sitting up with her back to the crowd, talking animatedly with Carson. Ronon, who was standing next to Beckett watched Rodney's approach, his frown evident as he glanced at their audience.

Everyone held their breath as Rodney thrust the letter at Jennifer, and the contents of the envelope out to Ronon. Then the scientist bid a hasty retreat back to the others.

It was a silent circle that watched Jennifer's trembling fingers reread the letter, and Ronon's expression as he realized what had been done.

Ronon looked up, spotting Rodney standing next to the others. With a few quick strides Ronon was at the scientist, who automatically flinched when the big man reached out and grabbed him in a giant bear hug. Over their shoulders, Jennifer laughed, then promptly burst into tears, prompting Ronon to drop McKay to his feet and return to her side. With her arms around his neck, Ronon scooped her up and carried her out the back side of the infirmary, her crying laughter muffled against the front of his shirt.

Carson left the bedside and joined the crowd.

"She going to be okay?" Laura asked the question everyone needed answered.

"Aye lass." Carson nodded with a wide grin. "Everyone's going to be just fine!" He clasped Rodney on the shoulder, and laughed. Then he clapped his hands together and rubbed them furiously. "Now…. what say we crack open that bottle I've been hiding in my desk and celebrate?"

A rousing chorus of hear hear echoed as the group left the infirmary for the small room across the hall.

* * *

Sergeant McAllister squirmed in the chair he was still sitting in, and glanced around the nearly empty infirmary. He looked over at Ross, who sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. Sliding onto the floor he walked over to sit on the stool Richard Woolsey vacated.

"You got any idea what the hell just happened?" The young Corporal asked.

McAllister nodded. "Basically? The lady doctor is pregnant. The giant's the father. The IOA fired her but now she's working directly for the President."

"Oh." The Corporal frowned. "You think we're allowed to go?"

"Hell no." McAllister shook his head. "You have any idea who that was?!"

Ross shook his head.

"Ronon Dex." McAllister said quietly, glancing around to make sure he wasn't heard. "He and Teal'c single handedly saved the Earth from that Wraith attack."

"I hear he can kill a Wraith with his teeth." Ross nodded, then he paused. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

Silence. Then a few minutes later.

"What are we supposed to do with the rocking chair that Colonel Carter sent for Dr. Keller?" Ross gingerly touched the side of his face, wincing. "We're supposed to get her to sign for it?"

McAllister looked at him like he had horns. "Shit, kid. You got a death wish or something? Let Pinny's team try to deliver it this time. They don't pay me enough to try that a second time."

.

.

.

* * *

**A/N Okay being Canadian I may have taken a few liberties with the power of the Oval Office, but I figured if anyone could pull in a favour, it would be Rodney McKay!!! :P Next stop - Month Four! ^_^**


	10. Chapter 10 The Fourth Month

**The Fourth Month**

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Jen whispered, brushing against Ronon as she slipped just a little bit closer.

"If I wasn't…"

"I know, I know." She muttered. "I wouldn't be going."

"Come on, Doc." Evan grinned, adjusting the grip on his P90 as he took up a position in front of her.

John turned around to face her, his P90 already in his hands. "What's wrong?"

"All the firepower's making Doc nervous." Ellis answered from behind her.

"Oh shush." Jen glared at him from over her shoulder, then shot equally deadly looks towards Sanchez and Brown, who continued to smirk. "It's not funny." She pointed, which only made them grin more. She glared at them then glanced up at Ronon. "Shoot them."

Ronon shrugged and turned slowly, yanking his blaster out of the holster tucked against the small of his back.

The smirks quickly disappeared behind wide eyed stares.

"Doc…" John cautioned. "Please don't shoot your bodyguards. It kind of defeats the purpose."

Jen sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Ronon grinned at the men behind him and slipped the weapon back into the holster.

John glanced up at Chuck and spun his finger in the air, and the technician began the dialing sequence. "There's nothing to worry about, Doc." The Colonel grinned. "We got you covered."

"So says you." She gnawed her lower lip.

"So says me." John nodded, turning around again to face the solidified gate. He glanced at his watch. "Thirty seconds."

Jen took a deep breath as the circle of TAC vests crowded in around her on all sides, save for the tall muscular wall who moved to stand directly in front of her. As John counted down, they slowly stepped forward, crossing the event horizon as he reached one. Jen couldn't see anything other than Ronon's back as she was herded through the gate.

As soon as they reached the other side, she heard John kick in his com. "Colonel Caldwell, we have your package."

Chancing a quick peek from around Ronon's blocking stance, she caught a brief glimpse of Mr. Coolidge's surprised and confused frown, then a flash of white surrounded her and she was left standing on the bridge of the Daedalus with Ronon.

Feeling relief slumping her shoulders, Jen turned around and let out a gasp to when she saw the broadly grinning faces of Colonel Carter and General O'Neill.

"Sam!" She laughed, rushing over to hug her friend. "Oh, it's so good to see you! I suppose I have you to thank for all this cloak and dagger stuff?"

"I may have made a few… suggestions." Sam hinted and hugged her tightly, releasing her only to turn and throw her arms around a surprised Ronon.

"Congratulations." She whispered in his ear, then released him quickly.

Jen laughed as Ronon's expression turned from surprise to a broad grin as he looked at his old CO. Then Jen turned to Jack, and gave him an equally boisterous hug.

Jack smiled and hugged her back. "You certainly know how to make an entrance."

"The SG team has returned through to Atlantis." The officer at the com announced.

Relieved to hear her friends had made it back safely, Jen laughed and stepped away from Jack, banging against Ronon's front.

Jack extended his hand past her, gripping Ronon's tightly. "Congratulations, Dad." He leaned forward, his voice low so as not to be overheard.

Ronon shook firmly, nodding. "I hear I have you to thank for the paperwork."

"Meh." Jack shrugged it off. "Anytime I can help piss off the IOA, I'm _so_ there. Although I would have loved to see Coolidge's face when you waltzed in then disappeared."

"Hmm." Sam made a face, glancing at him and shaking her head with a laugh.

"Okay then." Jack clapped his hands together then rubbed them back and forth maniacally. "You ready for phase two?"

Jen glanced up at Ronon, who was watching her intently. She turned back to Jack and Sam, then nodded. "Yeah. Let's do it."

Jack turned towards Colonel Caldwell, who was watching them with a closed expression. "Colonel." Jack angled his head.

"Very well." Caldwell nodded. "Doctor Keller. Mr. Dex. You have twenty four hours. We leave tomorrow at seventeen-hundred. With our without you."

Jen nodded.

Jack raised an eyebrow and glanced at Caldwell. "Seeing as how you're beaming them up, I'm pretty sure they'll be with you."

The Colonel clenched his jaw.

"Don't worry." Sam leaned towards Jen. "If the IOA makes any move towards your position, we'll bring you right back up."

"Send em' down." Caldwell ordered, and in another flash of light, Jen suddenly found herself standing in the soft green grass of a wide open back yard, with sun on her face and the sounds of early summer surrounding her.

In front of her, stood the massive wrap around porch attached to the two storey farm style house she'd spent most of her life running around on. Large honeybees buzzed in the flowerbeds next to the back steps, moving slowly from flower to flower. Sparrows flittered along the eaves, chirping at them, then launching quickly into flight. Mrs. Tattinger's overweight tabby cat, lounging on the bottom step, squinted his eyes and gave them a thorough once over. Apparently satisfied, he lowered his head slowly and closed his eyes.

She turned to Ronon, and threw her arms around him.

"Hey." He frowned, pulling her in close. "You okay?"

She nodded, her face burrowed in his shirt. "Yeah." She smiled up at him. "As long as you're here."

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good." She grinned, and turned in his arms, resting her back against his chest as she stared up at the second floor window on the right, and her childhood bedroom hiding behind it. "So?" She asked after a moment. "What do you think?"

Ronon didn't immediately answer. He wasn't sure how to explain the tiny twinge of hope to know her planet stood so untouched by the Wraith. To see such advances in technology. Huge houses. Manicured lawns. The sounds of life and happiness echoing around them. But the feeling faded quickly, leaving him with the knowledge that this was _her_ home… a piece of her that he'd never seen… never touched. Something tightened inside him to know she was sharing it with him. Even if only for a such a brief time.

"It's nice." He finally answered.

She tipped her head and looked up over her shoulder, her laugher evident by the sparkle in her eyes. "Nice?"

He shrugged, quirking his mouth up at her infectious smile.

"Come on…" She laughed, stepping forward and reaching for his hand. "Let's go inside the _nice_ house."

Ronon looked down at his front. "You sure you don't want me to change?"

Jen stopped and turned back around, her eyes soft as she moved to stand chest to chest with him. Reaching up, she placed her hand against his neck, rubbing her thumb across his tattoo. "No." She shook her head. "I want him to meet _you_." She paused. "The _real_ you. Clothes and all."

Ronon shook his head slowly, once again amazed at the woman standing in front of him.

She smiled as though she knew his thoughts, and hooked her arms around his neck. "I love _you_." She said softly. "Not your clothes. Although I do have to say the leather pants are most definitely a bonus."

He laughed against her mouth, sliding his arms around her when she lifted herself on her toes and kissed him soundly. He returned the favour, parting her lips with his tongue and pulling her higher up against his chest. A tiny murmur escaped the back of her throat and she hopped up, his arms instantly slipping down to catch her against him. When she finally leaned back, her breath a little quicker, she was laughing.

"What?" He grinned.

She shook her head, wriggling to get down. "We'd better get inside before the neighbours call the cops."

He released her reluctantly, setting her back onto the grassy yard. His fingers threaded through hers as they climbed the steps of the porch.

"Is he home?" Ronon asked, reaching out to grab the back screen door she pulled open.

She shushed him and stepped into a roomy kitchen. Ronon watched her move forward, his eyes following her movements. She moved slowly, her head turning past the yellow walls and white cupboards, to the small table for two set in the corner. Clean surfaces, happy feelings. She turned towards him again, her face lit with happiness. In two quick steps she was at his side, her fingers snatching his to pull him forward into a long hallway. He followed wordlessly, heading into a beam of sunlight that crested through the large front door ahead of them. Pictures lined the walls and he turned to see them, stopping suddenly and pulling her back against him.

She giggled at the one he was standing in front of, a picture of her as a child, wearing a sparkling cone hat, ice cream covering her face, pigtails sticking haphazardly out from the sides of her head while she grinned up at the camera. "My fifth birthday party." She whispered, then pointed to the one beside it, a shot of her sitting on the front steps, holding a raw, scraped knee with one hand, and a red popsicle with the other, tear tracks easily visible on both cheeks. "The day I tried to ride Billy McGail's two-wheeler." She snickered, moving to the next picture, a little older, but still with the pigtails. Standing near a fence overlooking a massive mountain with faces carved in it. Ronon squinted and raised an eyebrow. Jen looked up at him and laughed. "Mount Rushmore." She shrugged and shook her head. "Long story."

"Hmm…" He nodded, pointing to the next photo.

And on they went, down the wall of pictures of Jennifer through various stages of her life. Images he committed to memory. Unruly pigtails and big blue eyes. And a beautiful smile filled with the innocence and sunshine. When they reached the end of the wall he turned towards her. She smiled up at him, her fingers still entwined through his, and he realized with a start that even with everything she'd seen, everything she'd done since leaving her home, she still had it. The smile. The innocence. His chest tightened with a surge of anger and protectiveness at the thought of anything, or anyone, ever taking it away from her.

"What?" She asked softly, her smile faltering at his expression.

He narrowed his eyes and purposely looked at her hair, which was hanging long and loose down around her shoulders. "I kind of like the pigtails." He said with a frown.

"Yeah, I bet you do!" Jen snorted and wacked him across the shoulder, angling him towards the stairs that sloped up to the right, disappearing around a landing to the second floor. "Wanna see my Dad have a heart attack?"

Ronon raised an eyebrow. "Is that another one of those redundant questions?"

She giggled and released his hand, tiptoeing up the stairs. "You're learning."

"Hmm…" He made a face and followed her to the second floor.

At the top of the stairs she turned and tiptoed down the hallway towards a large, sunny room to the front of the house. He could see the edges of a bookcase lining the wall beneath the windows, and the corner of a desk partially hidden behind the door to the right. The sounds of a page turning caught his ear. Jen turned at him and grinned, waving him closer but he shook his head and angled his chin, indicating she should continue alone. She shrugged and smiled, then turned to walk quietly into the room. He waited at the top of the stairs, somehow knowing he needed to let her do this alone.

When she stopped in the doorway, Ronon heard a quiet intake from the occupant of the room. "Well shit." A man's voice rasped out from around the corner. "You tryin to give your old man a heart attack?!"

Jen burst out laughing and disappeared into the room at a run.

"Hi Papa." She squealed, slamming into the man who'd stood up from the recliner he'd been sitting in, his book tumbling to the floor, forgotten.

"Hi Peanut." He grinned, wrapping his arms tightly around her and rocking side to side. "It's about time you came back to visit your old man!"

Jen laughed and hugged him tightly, kissing him loudly on the cheek. "You look good."

He leaned back, his hands lightly holding her upper arms. "I look old."

She snorted. "Never."

He grinned and glanced down at her stomach, still flat beneath the edges of her blue tank-top. "You taking good care of my grandchild?"

She smiled and dropped her hands to her stomach. "Of course… Grandpa."

Her Dad rolled his eyes and clasped his hands over his heart. "Grandpa." He shook his head. "I'm too young to be a Grandpa."

"Yeah well, you'd better get used to it."

He hugged her again. "How long can you stay this time?"

She shrugged. "Tomorrow at five."

"Ah." He nodded. "Suppose that's better than the two hours I got last time."

Jen wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, sorry about that… I just…"

"I know, sweets. I know." He kissed her cheek. "Now." He leaned back, his face turning serious. "You gonna tell him to come in or do I have to go meet him in the hallway?"

Jen laughed, and turned, knowing Ronon would have heard the words. Booted footfalls sounded from the hallway and he appeared in the doorway, stopping just inside her father's study.

She tried to see him as her father would, but couldn't see past her own heart. Heavy boots, dark leather pants accenting muscular legs, a beige knit shirt with its neckline hanging open in a vee, bare arms, his gauntlets packed in the small canvas bag he wore slung over one shoulder. His dreads pulled back behind his neck and secured away from his face, showing of the strength of his shoulders and the tattoo she couldn't ever seem to stop touching or kissing. Intense green eyes surveyed the room, locking the position of everything into place inside his mind before he moved forward to stand beside her.

"Ronon Dex, I presume?" Jen's Dad dropped his arm around his daughter's shoulder, and eyed the man in front of him, his eyebrows raised in an impress-me glare.

Ronon gave the man a quick once over. Taller than by Jen half a head, he was thin but showed a strength in stature that told Ronon he wasn't a pushover. With sandy hair and a mustache, his eyes were the same intense blue as his daughters – an intensity that was currently being directed right at him.

"Mr. Keller." Ronon greeted, fully understanding the powerplay that was about to take place.

"This is your doing then?" Her father angled his head and glanced down at Jen's stomach.

"It is." Ronon answered, fighting back a grin as the man skipped all the pleasantries and dove right to the point.

"Dad…" Jen groaned, shoving away from her Dad to stand between them.

"You stickin' around?" Her father's gaze narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I am." Ronon answered firmly, mirroring the man's stance.

"Dad." Jen gasped.

"Going to make an honest woman out of her?"

"Dad!" Jen shrieked, spinning around to jab Ronon in the chest with her index finger. "Don't you dare answer that!"

"Oh no, no, no. He can answer." Her father said, nodding quickly.

"Ronon…" Jen warned, her voice low, and her eyes narrowed.

Ronon stared at her father, then raised an eyebrow towards Jen, who was now standing with her hands on her hips glaring at them both. He angled his head back to her Dad and shrugged with defeat, dropping his arms to his side.

Her father scowled, then pursed his lips. "She got to you too, huh."

Ronon nodded. Once.

"Hmm." Her Dad snorted. "She does have that effect."

"Yes." Ronon agreed. "She does."

Jen let out an exasperated snort and rolled her eyes. "_She_... can hear you…"

"She listen to you?" Her father raised an eyebrow.

Ronon shrugged, and Jen let out a very unlady-like snort.

"Me either." Her Dad scowled. "You think you got what it takes to keep her out of trouble?"

"Oh for heaven's sake." Jen muttered.

"I do." Ronon answered.

"You look strong enough." Her dad said analytically, giving Ronon a cursory once over. "You smart enough to know when she's in over her head?"

"Dad!" Jen practically shouted.

"Now, Peanut." Her father shook his head. "These are questions that need answering if I'm gonna believe that this young man's gonna counter act that luck of yours. You know I worry that I'm not around to keep an eye on you."

"Are you kidding me?" She raised both eyebrows, and pointed to Ronon. "Ronon's worse than you are."

"Good." Her Dad nodded.

"Good?" She repeated. "Dad! This is the twenty-first century." Jen scowled, but Ronon could see the sparkle of love in her eyes as she glared up at her father. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I do NOT need someone to keep an eye on me!"

"Yes you do." Both men echoed.

Her Dad grinned, and Ronon snorted.

"I give up." Jen shook her head and turned away, flinging her arms wide in exasperation. "I'm going downstairs to order pizza." When she reached the edge of the doorway she spun around and scowled at her father. "Play nice." Then she pointed at Ronon. "You too." Then she turned with a flourish and stomped into the hallway, her heavy footsteps echoing down the stairs as she returned to the main floor.

"Alright then." Her Dad moved past Ronon and walked around the desk, opening a drawer and pulling out a dark bottle filled with a heavy amber liquid. He set it on the desk and placed two glasses beside it. "Now that the pleasantries are over with, let's get down to business."


	11. Chapter 11

"You got family?" Mr. Keller asked as he unscrewed the lid on the dark bottle and poured a hefty amount into one of the glasses.

"Not anymore." Ronon inhaled, the sharp, woody scent of the alcohol teasing his nostrils, reminding him of the concoctions Carson always praised.

Mr. Keller nodded, moving his arm to pour an equally strong portion into the second glass. "You got friends?"

Ronon blinked, and Jen's Dad looked up, his eyebrow raised expectantly.

"Yes." Ronon answered.

"Good friends?"

"Yes."

"The kind that will help you bury a body?"

This time it was Ronon's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Yes." He finally answered.

Her Dad slowly spun the lid back on the bottle and set it down. He picked up both glasses and held one out to Ronon. "You ever bury a body?"

"Yes."

"He deserve it?"

"Yes."

"In your opinion or someone else's?"

"Mine." Ronon shrugged, eyeing the dark liquid in his hand. "And others."

"She wouldn't like that." Mr. Keller angled his head and raised his glass.

"No." Ronon shook his head, and lifted the glass to his lips. "She doesn't." He knocked back the powerful brew, the smooth burn tracing a path down the inside of his throat and chest. It had kick, but it was surprisingly smooth. He lowered the glass and caught the edges of an impressed smirk as Mr. Keller knocked his back. Ronon almost smiled to know he'd obviously passed some kind of test, but he kept his expression closed.

Mr. Keller took care in refilling both glasses, his movements slow and precise. He lifted his glass and sat down, motioning for Ronon to take one of the seats on the other side of the desk. Ronon picked up his glass and dropped slowly into the chair.

"My daughter…" He began, his eyes locked on the amber liquid as he rotated the glass, swirling it slowly. "Is a beautiful young woman. A genius, they tell me. Top of her class. Years ahead of her peers. Wooed by research facilities and government agencies from the time she was fifteen." Then he looked up at Ronon. "A lot of people _still_ want to get their hands on her."

Ronon almost told the older man that _no one_ was getting their hands on Jennifer… except him. But he kept his mouth shut, choosing instead to wait.

"And while I always thought she might find herself a nice doctor and settle down, he always seemed to have other plans. " Mr. Keller sighed angled his head. "Starting with this crazy idea that she can save everyone."

Ronon took a healthy swallow of the alcohol. "She's good at her job."

"Oh I know she's good at her job." The other man replied. "My question is, Son… are you?"

Ronon raised an eyebrow.

"Somehow, and don't ask me how, 'cause it certainly didn't come from my side of the family," Mr. Keller continued. "I've managed to raise a girl who can't see anything but the good in people." He sighed. "And this poses a problem."

"Problem?" Ronon prompted, finishing his drink and setting his glass onto the desk.

Jennifer's father angled his head. "That kind of innocence attracts only two kinds of people. The ones who want to possess it, and the ones who want to protect it." He paused. "Which one are you?"

"Neither." Ronon paused, rolling the question over in his mind. "Both."

Jen's father let a slow grin slide up the corner of his mouth before he took another sip of his drink. "That's probably the most honest answer I've ever gotten to that question."

"You've asked that question a lot?" Ronon wondered aloud.

Mr. Keller snorted and shook his head. "Not nearly enough."

"Good." Ronon grunted, making the other man laugh.

"Now…" Mr. Keller leaned back in his chair. "Just how much trouble is she in this time?"

Ronon frowned, not really sure how, or if, he should answer.

Jennifer's father waved his hand dismissively, and drained his glass. "I know my daughter. Trouble follows her like a shadow. She can't go two feet without trying to rescue something that's going to come right back and bite her in the ass."

Ronon snorted.

The older man glanced down towards Ronon's waist. "You know how to use that pea-shooter?"

Ronon's brow furrowed. "Pea shooter?"

"The gun you're trying to hide back there."

_Ah, _Ronon nodded. "Yes. I know how to use it."

"You carrying because of her?"

"No." Ronon shook his head, realizing Jennifer's father's worry. "It's just a precaution."

Mr. Keller snorted, not believing the answer. "Precaution, my ass. You've got soldier written all over you, Son. The way you sit without really sitting, watch without looking. You know exactly where everything is without having to turn around to see it's there. I'm not a stupid man. I know she's working some top-secret project she can't talk about. What I don't know… is if she's safe."

"She's safe." Ronon said, his eyes and expression conveying his conviction.

"Because of you?"

"Not just me." Ronon shook his head, thinking of the rest of the teams, and all the self-appointed big-brother's Jennifer had gained in her time on Atlantis. He gave her father a reassuring nod. "She's well looked after."

"I supposed that's as good an answer as any." Her father muttered, moving to fill their lonely glasses. "You two decided what you're going to do with a baby?"

Ronon blinked. "Raise it?"

Her father laughed and shoved Ronon's drink towards him, then picked his own up in a mock salute. Both men drained their glasses and set them onto the desk.

Hurried footsteps sounded on the stairs and Ronon turned, leaving his chair and angling himself towards the hallway. His hand hovered beneath the back hem of his shirt as Jennifer burst into the room.

"You okay?" He growled, but she brushed past him, stomping directly to the desk. Ronon turned around as Jennifer pointed angrily to the bottle.

"Dad!" She scolded. "What did Dr. Raucher say about alcohol!?" She snatched the bottle of the desk. "Are you trying to give yourself a heart attack?"

"Now, Peanut." Her father gave her a sad, wounded look when she grabbed his glass out of his hands. "I was just having a toast to my soon-to-be grandchild!"

"Ha!" She snorted, turning to glare at Ronon. "And don't you start either."

Ronon raised an eyebrow, and glanced over her shoulder at her father, who was grinning maniacally.

Jen spun around and his saucy grin was gone, instantly replaced with a loving smile.

"Don't you be giving me that look."

"What look?" Her father frowned.

"The one that says you're humoring me."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "That's because I _am_ humoring you."

Jen let out a disgusted snort and grabbed the empty glasses. Spinning on her heel she turned and walked out of the room. "Pizza will be here in ten minutes." Then she stopped suddenly and turned back around, giving her father a wary glare.

"What?" He held his hands up in mock innocence.

Jen glowered and strode back into the room, heading to the bookcase behind his desk. Reaching down between the side and the wall, she pulled up a second bottle, this one still full.

"Hey…" Her father muttered, when she angled her head and tisked. "That's my backup."

"Uh-huh." Jen scowled. "Well say goodbye to your backup."

"Bye backup." He called as she left the room, her footsteps echoing as she descended to the main floor. Then he turned to Ronon and waved him back towards his seat. Sliding open the bottom left drawer to his desk, he extracted two more glasses and set them on the table. Then he rolled his chair towards the bookcase, pulled out a large hardcover volume, and extracted a small mickey of scotch and waggled it at Ronon.

"A backup to the backup."

Ronon laughed.

"Now…" Mr. Keller nodded as he unscrewed the lid and poured the drinks. "As I was saying…"

* * *

Ronon stepped out onto the back porch, easing the screen door closed behind him. Night was descending, but the humidity hung on, leaving the air warm and sticky. His eyes immediately moved to the woman standing next to the railing, her hands resting on the top bar.

Jennifer stood with her head back, face to the heavens, the tiny scrap of material she wore fluttering lightly in the breeze. The clothing barely covered her torso – thin straps looping up over her shoulders from low down her bare back – the bottom hem barely reaching the tops of her thighs. And her legs looked incredibly long. Bare. Ending in a pair of tiny spiked shoes. For a moment he couldn't move, and he couldn't stop staring.

Letting out a long, relaxed sigh, she lowered her head, and stared out across the yard. He stepped forward, stopping directly behind her, close enough to feel her energy tickling the hair on his arms. Lowering his head slowly, he kissed her bare shoulder, smiling when she shrieked and jumped to the side. His hands shot out to catch her before she fell, making her giggle.

The shoes she wore made her taller, her head tipping only slightly to look into his face. Her eyes sparkled with laughter as she slipped her arms around his neck. "Sneaky brat."

"Hmm." He answered, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You okay?"

"Yup." She smiled. "You ready?"

He angled his head. "You sure your father doesn't mind that you're leaving?"

Jen laughed. "It's only for an hour. And besides, he's been waiting for this night almost as long as I have."

"He's been waiting for you to go to a dance?" Ronon frowned.

"Not just a dance…" She shook her head. "Sally Fraser's annual barn dance."

Ronon raised an eyebrow. "So the reason we came tonight instead of next week…"

"Is because you're taking me to a dance."

"Right." He nodded. "A dance."

"Yup. A dance."

"I don't dance."

"I do."

"Not wearing that, you're not." He glanced down, his current position giving him a very straight up view of the valley between her breasts… breasts which were clearly not clothed in anything other than the flowing material of the top of the little dress.

She raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with what I'm wearing?"

"Nope." He growled. "So long as I'm the only one looking."

Jen laughed and rolled her eyes. "I've been going to this party on and off since I was a kid. Trust me. No one's looking."

"Then they're stupid as well as blind."

Jen smiled and kissed him, laughing against his mouth. "I love you."

"You'd better." He snorted, tucking a lock of hair back in behind her ear. "Why tonight?"

"Because Sally owes me twenty bucks."

"Twenty." Ronon frowned, knowing that with what she was being paid by the SGC, twenty dollars wasn't worth the bet. Obviously something bigger was going on. "Is that all?"

"Yup." She nodded, then burst out laughing.

The sound was clear and bright, warming his heart. If twenty bucks was worth that laugh, then he'd see she got it. He dropped his head, capturing her laughter against his lips. A throat cleared behind them and Ronon instantly tensed, lifting his head. Jen patted him on the shoulder, and he released her. She stepped around him to face her father, who was standing in the open doorway with one eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, Daddy." She half smiled.

"Hmmm." He nodded, then shook his head with an exasperated sigh. He stepped forward and held out his hand. "You forgot the keys."

"Oh!" Jen giggled, and reached for the truck keys, but he snatched them back with a raised eyebrow.

"I expect a full report when you get back." He said slyly.

Jen grinned. "Of course."

He glanced over her shoulder at Ronon, who was standing a few feet behind her. "You sure he's up to the challenge."

Jen eyed Ronon, then turned back to her Dad. "Definitely."

"Good." Her Dad handed over the keys with a wink. "Give her hell."


	12. Chapter 12

Sitting at the end of the dock under the night sky, Jen gazed across the glassy, reflective surface of the old mill pond, her mind struggling with just how out of place she actually felt in a spot she'd once called home. She wiggled her toes under the water, her ankles turning lazy circles. Ripples floated out across the surface, gently rocking the overgrown reeds that flanked the dilapidated wooden dock. With a sigh she leaned her head against Ronon's shoulder and tipped her head back, her eyes lost in the giant sparkling blackness overhead. Millions of stars and planets glittered down at her, laughing behind their secrets.

As a child she'd come here to stare up at the heavens, wondering just how anyone could possibly think they were grand enough to be the only planet in the universe with life. There were too many stars, too many possibilities to make Earth the only one with human life – or any life for that matter. All anyone had to do was just sit and look and the answer was obvious.

And now, staring up at the milky way, she found herself wishing for a completely different set of stars.

And it was all _his_ fault.

She closed her eyes and let her other senses free.

Music and laughter drifted across the water from the barn along the far side, the party now in full swing. She felt the soft, cool slide of the water over her feet as she swirled them back and forth in time to the slow rhythm of the twangy, country tune. The warm evening breeze tickled on her upturned face, soft and inviting. Bullfrogs carried on a conversation in the reeds beside the dock while the smell of pine and freshness carried across the air.

She smiled to herself. It _was_ nice to be able to take a trip through the gate and not worry about being eaten by the local flora or fauna, attacked by native's who thought jumper's were devil ships come to eat them, or any other Pegasus Galaxy kinder-surprise.

"What are you grinning about?" Ronon's low growl shivered down her spine.

"Nothing." She laughed, pulling her feet up out of the water. "Everything." She turned and straddled his lap, hooking her arms around his neck.

"Problem?" He raised an eyebrow when she leaned down and kissed the side of his neck just above his tattoo.

"Nope." She wriggled against him.

"Sure?"

"Yup." She kissed the underside of his jaw, forcing his head back so she could switch to nibbling on the other side of his neck.

"I don't believe you."

"You shouldn't."

He felt himself laughing, his arms around her waist as he leaned back, tugging her higher up his body. She moved her head, her mouth seeking his, and he answered with his own. It didn't take long for him to need to pull away, her sexy wriggling against his lap making him a little more than warm.

"Problem?" She asked, repeating his earlier question.

"Nope." He smiled.

"Sure?"

"Yup."

"I don't believe you."

"You shouldn't."

Jennifer laughed and crawled off his lap to sit beside him on the dock. She grabbed her sandals and slipped them on, accepting his hand as he helped her to her feet.

"Come on." She smiled, slipping her fingers through his. "Let's go get my money."

He nodded. "Then what?"

She turned slightly, and glanced over her shoulder, giving him a very slow, very wicked little grin while she walked backwards, the spike of the heels adding an extra sway to her hips. "Then…" she said slowly. "Then… I'm going to introduce you to an ancient Earth tradition."

"Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow, pulling his eyes slowly up to hers, wondering if the night was getting warmer… or just him. "What's that?"

"Lookout Point."

* * *

Inside the barn, the bright lights of the overhead lanterns shone down on the crowded floor, bathing everyone in a colorful glow. The music was loud, the crowd was happy, and people danced and mingled without a care.

Once again, Ronon felt the surge of incredulity to know that these people – this entire planet – had never known the Wraith. Living their lives in fullness, the promise of death by old age. Until he'd come to Earth, he'd never heard of anyone living past seventy years, much less eighty, ninety, or even a hundred. Yet here they stood, milling together, young and old. And some of the old were ancient. No one but himself and Jennifer had any idea of what could be, had these people been born across the universe.

It still staggered him.

Jennifer's fingers tightened in his and he let her lead him forward, glancing down – the lights showcasing the barely-there dress she was wearing. He looked further, and had half a mind to drag her right back outside again. In the darkness of the evening air, he'd known she wasn't wearing much, but here, under the lights of the lanterns, she was wearing a hell of a lot less than he'd like in a crowd this size.

The single piece of material swayed over her hips as she walked, and ended just past the top of her hips. He had absolutely no idea how she was able to stand in those shoes, or sit without the material exposing everything below her waist. The upper half of her back was bare save for the weak little straps stretching up over her shoulders to hold the material over the front of her breasts.

When she turned to smile over her shoulder at him, he felt a surge of possessiveness and stepped closer, pulling her into his side.

She squealed and staggered in her shoes, giving him the opportunity to loop his arm around her waist to steady her.

She laughed. "You been taking lessons from Sheppard?"

He shrugged. "No idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah I bet." She smiled, gently shoving him away. "Come on, Romeo. We're almost done."

"Romeo?" He questioned, following her through the crowd.

At the front of the barn they stepped outside and into a large open area, staggered with groups of people, boisterously celebrating. She lead him up the hill towards a large house, and paused in the darkened shade of a huge tree, releasing his hand. An overly loud group of people stood a few feet away under a string of lights hanging beneath the overhang of the front porch. There were at least a dozen, and Ronon was pretty sure half of them were well on their way to having a hangover in the morning.

Jen grinned up at him, placing her hand on his chest. "I'll explain later – but will you wait here for a second?"

He nodded, curious about her request which was accompanied by a huge smile.

"Oh this is going to be fun." She laughed softly to herself, and stepped away from the tree.

When she reached the group, the young men and women stepped forward, nods and calls of _Hey Jenny_ surrounding her. A couple of the men whistled sharply, which she ignored. Ronon watched as she hugged a young redhead. Two men also stepped forward to give her a hugged greeting, which straightened Ronon's spine as she leaned higher to give each man a quick kiss on the cheek, the material of her skirt riding up the top of her legs.

A third man, after giving her a long, slow once over, suggested she might offer him a dance before she left. The brunette beside him bristled and Ronon watched as Jen turned the man down with a shake of her head.

A forth woman stepped up, nodding to Jennifer, her voice loud with drink. "Oh, come on, Jenny. When are you ever going to get a better offer?" She laughed, nodding at the young man who'd just proposed the dance.

"She's not." Another man replied, earning a round of laughter.

Ronon eyed the woman with the loud mouth. Sally. Apparently the one who was throwing the party, and the one Jennifer had come to collect money from. He crossed his arms, and waited.

Sally laughed at Jennifer. "Jenny's come to give me her twenty bucks. Haven't you?"

"So it's the same bet?" Ronon heard Jennifer ask, wondering what the two women were betting on.

Sally grinned widely. "Of course it's the same bet."

"Come on, Sally." The woman who'd hugged Jen sighed loudly. "Don't you think it's time you let Jenny alone?"

"Nope." Sally shook her head, taking a long pull from the bottle she held. "A bet's a bet. Jenny's here alone, she came _alone_, and she's leaving _alone_. Aren't ya, Jenny?" She snorted loudly, her snickers quickly joined by most of the others. "Well that's enough to lose. Just like every other year."

The group continued to laugh, obviously at Jennifer's expense. Ronon stepped forward, but Jennifer held her hand behind her back, her palm up, then she switched to one index finger. He hesitated, and held to the shadows, waiting to see where it was all going.

Jen held out her hand to Sally. "You owe me twenty."

Sally coughed, and looked at the men in the group behind her, then turned back to Jen. "One of these guys?"

"Oh hell no." Jen laughed, smiling at the woman she'd spent years wanting to slap.

Sally raised an eyebrow, pretending to look around. "Don't see anyone else. He's invisible?" She laughed loudly, inciting a chorus of guffaws from the others.

The condescending smile on Sally's face wasn't going to get to her this time, Jen thought with incredible enjoyment. The woman drove her absolutely batty every time Jen ever attended a social function of any merit.

_Poor Jenny, alone again. Poor Jenny, can't get a date. Poor Jenny, skipped school and sex ed. Poor Jenny wouldn't know what to do with a real man._

This time, Jen didn't need to feel the heat and goosebumps running across her bare back to know Ronon was now standing behind her.

The shocked look on Sally's face pretty much said it all.

Jen felt herself grinning like a madwoman, and couldn't stop herself.

She knew damn well just how good Ronon looked wearing that tightly pulled navy t-shirt he'd borrowed from Sheppard – it stretched across him everywhere – accenting every movement his upper body made. Hell _she'd_ had a hard enough time keeping her fingers off him - and he'd come here with her. And the leather pants and boots only served as a testament to the bad boy aura he was oozing.

Sally was staring.

Hell they were _all_ staring.

Ronon leaned down and kissed Jennifer's bare shoulder. "Are they bothering you?" He growled, and straightened to his full height, glaring at the gathered crowd.

Jennifer almost burst out laughing when each of the men automatically took two steps back.

"No." She smiled, leaning comfortably back against him. "I was just saying goodbye. Wasn't I?"

Everyone nodded, except Sally, who was still standing with her mouth open.

"Ready to go?" Ronon asked.

"Yup." Jen nodded.

Without a care of how it would look, or who told who what later, she let out a laugh of pure delight as she turned towards Ronon, leaping up, knowing he'd catch her against him. His arms landed under her bottom and she hooked her legs around him, kissing him lightly before looking over her shoulder to the woman who was standing open mouthed in front of the stunned crowd. Two of the other women were giggling behind their hands, and one was giving Jen a thumbs up behind Sally's back.

Jen winked at Sally. "Don't worry, Sally. You can just pay me next time."

Turning back to Ronon she couldn't stop smiling. "Let's get out of here."

The redhead let out a whoop, and the brunette smacked the man standing beside her. "Now _that's_ how you make an exit."

Jen felt Ronon's rumbling laughter against her chest as he carried her up the hill, her own laughter echoing as she left the crowd staring after them.

* * *

Jennifer sighed and snuggled closer, her fingers lazily tracing Ronon's collarbone. He lifted the edge of the blanket up over her shoulder, then tucked his free arm under his head and stared up at the midnight sky. After the party, she'd driven them out of town, taking a long, winding ride down a narrow road that ended at an old, abandoned factory on the edge of a small lake. Armed with a half-dead flashlight, they'd climbed to the top of the roof and made love beneath to the light of the moon and stars.

They now lay in silence, wrapped in a large plaid blanket, the sounds of the night falling in around them.

Jennifer giggled, pulling his gaze. "What?" He asked.

She shrugged, then laughed softly. "I've lived her my whole life and this is the first time I've ever been up here."

"Good." He grunted, the grinned. "I like it."

She laughed. "You would."

"You don't?"

"I do." She burrowed against him. "I guess there's something to that saying about making love under the stars…"

"That mean you'll be coming camping with me next time we hit the mainland?"

"Good god, no." She snorted.

"Why not? I thought you liked it."

"That's right. I like it. Here. Not someplace I could be eaten by a killer squirrel!" She laughed. "At least here I know it's safe."

_Safe_.

Ronon let the word echo through his mind. _Safe_. "Yes." He admitted softly, his hand absently caressing her lower torso. "It is…"

"Is what?" She murmured.

He placed his palm possessively over her abdomen. Her body was firmer here, her skin smoothed over a tiny bump just below her navel. Covering. Protecting. His child. Their child. "It's safe here." He admitted softly. "It's not there."

"Mmm." She nodded, then he felt her body jump and she lifted her head. "What?"

"What…" He frowned.

"What do you mean it's safe here, not there?"

"It's safe here." He shrugged. "No Wraith. No… killer squirrels…"

"So?" She sat up abruptly, and Ronon didn't miss the bite in her tone.

"I'm just saying…"

"Oh, I know what you're saying all right…" She shoved herself up onto her feet, the blanket dropping around her.

"Jennifer…" He hopped up, reaching for her when she suddenly turned and spun away. "What are you doing!?"

"Going home!" She snapped, walking quickly across the rooftop towards the stairs, completely naked.

Ronon grabbed the blanket and ran in front of her, blocking her in. He dropped the blanket around her shoulders but she shrugged it off. "Don't!"

"Jennifer!"

"Move."

"Jennifer…"

"I said, move." She dropped her hands to her hips and glared up at him.

"You're not leaving…" He growled. "You're not wearing anything!"

"HA!" She stepped back and flung her arms wide. "So? So what! If it's so _safe_ here then that shouldn't be a problem, should it!"

Ronon stepped forward. "What's wrong with you?"

"Me?!" She exclaimed. "Me? There's nothing wrong with me! You're the one who's suddenly decided that I'd be safer without you!"

"I… what?" Ronon scowled, unable to make the connection between what he'd said and what she was saying. "Jennifer, I never said…"

"Don't you dare give me that." She pointed her finger at him. "You… you…" She took a deep breath, her hand wavering when her voice cracked. "You don't want me to come back with you, do you?" She whispered, her head shaking slowly side to side. "You're leaving me behind…" Then she dropped her head and burst into tears.


	13. Chapter 13

To say Ronon was stunned would have been majorly incorrect.

Dumbfounded might be closer to the truth.

Unable to do more than stare.

Jennifer – his Jennifer – was standing in the middle of nowhere, completely naked, sobbing uncontrollably because she thought he wanted to leave her behind?

Carson's warning about the pitfalls of pregnancy came back to him with a vengeance. _When it happens, big man, ye'll know it._

Oh hell.

Ronon quickly stepped into her and pulled her against him. "Jennifer, I'm not leaving you behind." He said firmly, tucking her head beneath his chin. He wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the thought, but then decided laughing would most definitely not be the right move.

Her body shook, the sobs hiccupping her voice as she tried to argue. She stood stiffly against him, her arms hanging at her sides. "You… said… you said… safe… you said…"

"I said…" He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "It's safe here."

"Why… why would… you say that?" She sniffled, her tears transferring to his chest. "I know… that Pegasus isn't safe. I'm a horrible… mother if I raised my baby someplace… that wasn't safe… aren't I!?"

"Jennifer." Ronon shook his head. "Stop."

Her voice dropped until it was almost a whisper. "Is that why you agreed to come?"

"I… what? No!" He frowned at the illogical jump. "I came because there was no way in hell I was letting you come alone."

Silence.

"Oh." She sniffed.

"Oh." He repeated with a half smile, staring out into the darkness while she slipped her arms around his waist, her skin cool against his. He kissed the top of her head. "I would never leave you."

"You wouldn't?" She whispered, her voice a muffled squeak.

"Oh little one." He said softly, shaking his head. "You know I would never let anyone cause you harm."

She nodded.

"Do you think I would let anyone harm our child?"

She shook her head furiously. "No."

"You think I would let someone take you away?"

"No."

"Then why would you think I could leave you behind? Both of you?"

Silence.

Then a sniff.

And finally, "I don't know."

They stood in silence, her fingers locked tightly around his bare back as though she were afraid he was going to try to walk away. Eventually her grip relaxed, as did her stiff spine. She shifted and lifted her head.

He leaned down and kissed her cheeks, tasting the salty traces of her tears. "Better?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Sure?"

She nodded again.

"Anything else you want to get off your chest?" He smiled.

"No." She shook her head, then gave him a half smile. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. That was a terrible thing for me to say. I didn't mean-."

"It's fine." He cut her off.

"Ronon…"

"Jennifer…" He slipped his hands across her lower back and nuzzled her neck.

"I'm trying to apologize."

"I know."

"Then let me."

"No." He kissed the soft, sensitive skin behind her ear.

She shivered. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to."

"That's mature."

"Jennifer?"

"Yes?"

"You're standing in the middle of nowhere completely naked."

"I'm…" she paused then burst out laughing. "So nice of you to notice."

"Oh I noticed…" He shifted against her, showing her just how much he'd noticed.

* * *

Jen slipped into the driver's seat, smiling to note how confined the cab of her father's pickup felt. She'd ridden with other passengers before… but Ronon's otherworldly presence made the inside of the spacious crew-cab feel like she was jammed into a bumper-car.

And damned him if he didn't know it.

Slouched in the passenger seat, his body reclined with just enough tilt his arm brushed hers.

She shook her head at his innocent expression.

"What?" He asked, the edges of his mouth curling up into a smirk.

She laughed. "You're impossible."

He lifted his arm and tucked a strand of hair in behind her ear. "So you keep telling me."

Jen started the engine and put the truck into gear, pulling away from the shadows of the crumbling factory walls. Driving slowly across the overgrown and cracked asphalt of the parking lot, she headed towards the tagged and spray painted brick guard house. Normally, it would have bothered her to be out here at night. The looming buildings and creepy shadows were something out of a horror movie. But with Ronon sitting beside her, it was all just an unlit parking lot.

She laughed.

"What?" He turned towards her.

She shook her head and reached across the console and splayed her fingers across his thigh. "I'm just glad you're here."

He grinned. "If you keep that up, we're never going to make it back to your Dad's."

Jen burst out laughing. "Oh my god… would you give it a rest already?"

"You started it." He raised an eyebrow incredulously and glanced at her hand, which was still on his leg. She snorted and snatched it back.

With the guard house and factory lost in the darkness behind them, the headlights illuminated the narrow access road, overgrown with weeds and shadowed beneath high, drooping branches. In the distance, a single headlight bobbed in through the trees, heading in their direction. Through the open windows, Jen could hear the high-pitched whine a dirt-bike, the sound increasing as they closed the distance towards each other.

When the road opened into a straight section, she eased them closer to the right, giving the oncoming bike room to get past. The bike's engine sputtered and growled as the rider kicked it down a gear. A cloud of dust erupted as the two wheeler slid to a sudden stop.

Jen clamped her hand on Ronon's thigh before he could extract his blaster. "Relax." She ordered. "It's just some kid."

Ronon harrumphed, and pulled the blaster out, but left it hidden in the shadows next to his leg.

Jen eased the truck to a stop net to the bike, which was now resting on it's kickstand. Both rider, and passenger hopped off the bike, and rushed towards the truck. The driver yanked off his helmet revealing a boy of seventeen, with a shock of neon green hair.

"Hey Jenny!" The young man waved.

"Jimmy?" Jen smiled at the boy from down the street, then glanced at his twin sister who'd been riding on the back. "Hey Marcie. You guys are out kinda late."

Marcie stepped forward. "Your Dad sent us."

Jen laughed, thinking that this was probably the first time in her life she'd ever overstepped curfew, and her dad had sent the neighbours to lookout point.

"There's people at the house." Jimmy said quickly.

"People." Ronon growled.

The twins nodded in tandem. Marcie slipped something off her shoulder and held it out. Jen immediately recognized it as the canvas bag Ronon had brought as an overnight bag. Jen opened the door and climbed out of the truck, moving to stand next to the two teens. Ronon was at her side in an instant.

"Your Dad said to tell you-" Jimmy began, giving Ronon a wide eyed stare.

"The _suits_ were there-" Marcie added, handing Jen the canvas bag. "He said you'd know-"

"What that meant. And you're not to come back-" Jimmy looked at Jen.

"To town." Marcie finished.

The distant whine of a large truck engine rumbled through the silence, it's quick approach evident.

Ronon cursed.

Jimmy pointed at the pickup. "You Dad said we're supposed-"

"To take the truck for you." Marcie added.

Jimmy nodded. "He told them-"

"I borrowed it." Marcie smiled.

"And that you had another ride." Jimmy finished.

"What'd you do?" Marcie asked.

"You some kinda spy?" Jimmy eyed Ronon warily.

"What?" Jen blinked. "Spy?"

"Yes." Ronon answered, pulling Jen away from the open door of the truck.

"Cool!" The twins echoed.

"I knew it!" Jimmy grinned at Jen. "You're working for the CIA or something, aren't you!"

"What?" Jen gaped.

The approaching vehicle was making good time, it's headlights bobbing through the branches in the distance, the growl of the overpowered engine rumbling loudly. Ronon cursed and grabbed Jen's arm, pulling her backwards. "Let's go."

"Be careful!" Jen pointed at the twins, who were giving Ronon an awestruck once-over. "Tell Dad I love him! Tell him I'll… call!" Ronon snorted and guided Jen towards the side of the road. "Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer! Tell him…" She took a deep breath and cursed. "Tell him I won the bet!"

Ronon dug his com out of his pocket and seated it behind his ear. He lifted Jen over the narrow ditch then pulled her into the trees. Once they were out of sight of the dirt roadway, he tapped the earpiece. "Daedalus… Get us the hell out of here."

Back on the road, Jimmy turned towards Marcie and held out his hand. "Told you he was some kind of secret agent."

Marcie rolled her eyes but dug into her pocket and pulled out ten bucks, which she slapped into his palm. "I hate you."

Jimmy laughed and pocketed the money. "Come on… let's get arrested."

"You're an idiot." Marcie scowled as a black suburban slid to a stop in front of them.

"Shut up and smile." Jimmy elbowed her. "This is the coolest… thing… ever." He waved saucily at the approaching suits. "Hey guys! What's up?"

And in the glare of the headlights, no one saw the flash of white through the trees.


	14. Chapter 14 The Fifth Month

**The Fifth Month**

* * *

"Crap I'm cold."

"Gee…" Jen sighed and blew her bangs away from her face with an exasperated breath. "I wonder why."

"Oh shut it, Miss I've-got-extra-Satedan-baby-blood-running-through-my-veins…" Laura muttered, wriggling her fingers. "Those of us with lesser DNA actually notice temperature changes."

"Ha! Oh wait. I forgot I'm not talking to you…" Jen muttered.

"Then be quiet." Laura countered.

"Humph." Jen scowled.

"I think I'm getting closer."

"You said that ten minutes ago." Jen squirmed, wincing as the ropes dug tightly into her wrist.

"Well… I am… was… will…" Laura grumbled.

"You know…" Jen sighed with frustration as Laura's frantic wriggling nearly toppled her sideways. "If you weren't my best friend… I'd totally shoot you."

"I might be worried if you actually had a gun." Laura snickered.

"Oh I will." Jen scowled into the darkness of the damp, dungeon-like jail cell.

Laura shook her head. "Ronon loves me."

"Yeah but he loves me more." Jen warily eyed a large, glow-in-the-dark, slimy-skinned lizard that skittered in through the open window. The little beast paused to blink at her before running diagonally down the wall and disappearing into a hole in the far corner. "I'm _so_ going to kick your ass when we're out of here." Jen muttered.

"Hey! This is so not my fault!" Laura whined, yanking Jen's wrist to the side while she dug at the knots.

"You pulled a gun on their village leader!" Jen exclaimed, yanking Laura's arms back the other way.

Laura gave her a tug back. "He was trying to kidnap you!"

"He was not!" Jen yanked Laura's arms.

"Was so!" Laura yanked back. "He said you'd make a nice _fertile_ edition to his collection… what the hell was I supposed to do? Let him _keep_ you?"

"He was just being… friendly!"

"Friendly is _not_ drugging the pregnant lady's soup!"

"He did not drug my soup."

"Right. And the unsuspecting schlep you gave yours to just happened to fall asleep in it?"

"I…" Jen trailed off, unable to fnd a valid point to counter with.

"You what?" Laura prompted. "Found the only guy in Pegasus with narcolepsy?"

"Well…" Jen frowned. "Maybe he was allergic to that kind of… squash root… stuff…"

"Yeah right. You just keep telling yourself that Miss Oblivious."

"Fine. I will. And if they drugged the soup, Miss I Know Everything, why weren't _you_ affected? Hmm?"

"Eew!" Laura said with a disgusted snort. "I didn't _eat_ it! Good god! It looked like someone threw a pile of horse dung into a batch of butternut squash soup!"

Jen's stomach flipped over at the memory of the foul smelling concoction the villagers seemed hell bent on feeding her. "Wow. I thought it was just the hormones."

Laura shook her head. "Stuff smelled worse than a gas-station rest room."

"Okay enough with the descriptions there Stephen King. I'd like to keep my stomach where it is."

With an exasperated grunt of frustration, Laura leaned forward, yanking Jen with her.

"Hey!" Jen muttered, fighting to keep herself upright. "Easy!"

"Sorry." Laura shook her head. "I'm… almost… aha!" With a cry of success Laura flipped her hands free.

Jen felt an instant sag of relief in her forearms, the pressure finally letting go. It was immediately followed by a sharp pain as the muscles reminded her they'd been trapped in that position for almost an hour.

With their hands free, both women shrugged out of the rope binding their torso's together, and bent to release their lower legs.

Helping each other to their feet, Jen groaned, and attempted to rub some life back into her stiff limbs.

"Okay." She turned to Laura, who was hopping from foot to foot, shaking her arms to loosen them up. "Now what do we do?"

Laura eyed the narrow window set high in the wall several feet above their heads. Through the bars they could see starts teasing them from their position high in the night sky.

"If I thought we'd be left alone… I'd say we should just hang out and wait…" Laura moved along the wall, her hands feeling the edges around the window and the bricks below. She grabbed the bars and hauled herself up glancing quickly out before dropping herself back down.

"Wait for what?" Jen asked over her shoulder as she walked towards the heavy wooden door set in the wall on the far side. Running her hands around the frame she could feel nothing but a smooth surface. There was no handle, and no visible way of opening it from the inside. She sighed and turned around to face Laura.

"We missed check-in." The Lieutenant reminded her.

"Oh right. Great." Jen exclaimed, flipping her hands into the air in exasperation. "Yes. Lets wait for the Marines to come busting in so I can explain that you tried to shoot the village elder of the village we're supposed to be helping because he thinks I'm the answer to his fertility problem and then I'll spend the next six months locked in my room because I'm too much of a risk to be left alone anywhere in the damn galaxy all because some idiot running a village thinks fat pregnant women are knick-knack collectibles!"

"Oh-kaaay." Laura drawled out slowly. "So… waiting is out?"

"Damn right waiting is out!" Jen put her hands on her hips. "I so do not want to be locked in a dingy excuse for a jail when reinforcements arrive. Do something!"

Laura blinked. "Do something?"

"You're a Marine for god's sake." Jen waved her hands frantically. "Do something… Marine'ish!"

Laura raised her eyebrows. "Marine'ish?"

"Don't give me that look." Jen frowned, pointing at Laura. "You've come up with at least a half-a-dozen different ideas since they tossed us in here. Just pick one and get it over with."

Laura blinked, blinked again, then grinned happily. "Okay. But only 'cause you said I could!" She reached up under the bottom edge of her TAC vest and pulled at the seams. Velcro ripped and she extracted a long thin piece of a beige clay compound.

"What's that?" Jen squinted at it.

"Just a little something I keep handy for such an occasion."

"You have explosives hidden in your vest?" Jen stated with a frown.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." Laura snorted and moved towards the window.

"On anyone else… that _is_ a bad thing. On you, someow, it's just normal." Jen shook her head slowly. "You know most people use these things called _pockets_…"

"They took what was in the pockets." Laura pointed out, pressing the putty along the base of the window sill and angling it down the wall.

"I changed my mind." Jen eyed Laura warily as the Lieutenant dug into the back hem of her vest and extracted a detonator.

"Too late." Laura smiled, backing slowly away from the window.

Jen's hands automatically moved to cover her protruding abdomen. "Ronon's so going to kill me for this." She muttered.

"Nah…" Laura smiled, and quickly hugged her. "He'll shout… yell a little… redecorate the gym with fist-holes again… maybe stun a few Marines out of spite… but you he'll just hug… and _then_ permanently assign you a 24/7 detail."

Jen laughed and Laura released her.

"Now me, however… I'm gonna be mincemeat if I don't get you out of here before horny-boy adds you to his _collection_." Laura made quotes in the air with her index fingers.

"And we're not going to get blow up, or crushed to death, how?" Jen looked up at the ceiling.

Laura guided her into the corner and pulled her down into a squat. "Because I'm a genius."

"Ha!" Jen snorted. "Genius my ass. Any idiot can blow up a wall."

"Yes, but can any idiot blow us a calculated exit right into the alley without bringing the roof down on our heads?" Laura smirked, turning Jen to face the wall and pressing herself against Jen's upper body.

"I don't know." Jen scowled, covering her head with one arm, and her abdomen with the other. "Ask me again after they dig us out of the rubble."

"Oh ye of little faith. Watch, and be amazed." Laura snorted, pushing Jen's head down. "Abra-kadabra!"

Jen shrieked when an explosion rocked the floor, raining dust and small chunks of brick down around them. Laura stood quickly and clamped her hand down on Jen's wrist, hauling her to her feet. Jen coughed and covered her mouth, squinting into the dust cloud. She jumped slightly to see a massive hole in the wall beside them. Almost the entire side of the jail was hanging open to the night, the village buildings clearly visible. Laura tugged her over the rocky pile and out into the clear night air.

"Use enough dynamite there Butch?" Jen stared wide eyed at the opening as she followed Laura through.

"Come on, Sundance." Laura whispered, pulling Jen quickly around the corner and into the shadows.

"Why are you whispering?" Jen snorted, running behind her friend. "You just blew up a building."

"Avoiding the angry mob." Laura pushed her into a shadowed doorway as loud shouts sounded from all around them.

"Great." Jen muttered, eying the flickering orange glow of torch light as two angry villagers ran down the street towards the destroyed jail. "Now instead of being kept in a harem, I'll just be lynched."

"You're so negative." Laura muttered, urging her across the alley and around another corner.

"Oh I'll show you negative..."

Laura spun suddenly and shoved Jen behind a stack of boxes. She clamped her hand over her friend's mouth. "Stay here."

Jen gave her a wide eyed stare and shook her head.

"I'll be right back!" Laura hissed, turning with a flip of her strawberry blond braid.

"Laura!" Jen hissed, peering out from behind the large tower of crates as Laura ran across the street and disappeared into a dark building. "Laura! Get your skinny ass back here this minute! Laura!"

Angry voices sounded from around the corner and Jen ducked down behind her shield, clamping her hands over her mouth. Boot falls slammed down the dirt lane and faded. Counting to twenty, she moved her hands and stood up slowly, leaning to the side to inch her face around the edge of the boxes, where she came face to face with a grinning Laura.

Jen jumped and shrieked, her startled scream muffled by Laura's hand, which instantly clamped down over Jen's mouth.

"I told you I'd be right back." Laura hissed, dropping her hand and handing Jen her com.

Jen stared at the unit in her hand, then looked up at Laura who shrugged, and adjusted her grip on her P90. "Had to get my stuff."

"You're a jackass." Jen hissed as she tucked the com behind her ear.

"That's just the hormones talking." Laura whispered, leading them away from the center of town and into the edges of the village.

"No, no." Jen said surely, hurrying into the blackness beneath the massive trees that shadowed the south end of the small village. "You really are a jackass."

"You love me."

"I hate you."

"Love me."

"Hate you."

"Love."

"Hate."

Silence.

"Fine." Jen whispered as she followed Laura's silhouette through the undergrowth. "Get me back to the gate and maybe I won't let Ronon shoot you."

"Ah-ha!" Laura snickered. "Told you, you love me."

"Fine. I love you. Now shut it and find me a bathroom."


	15. Chapter 15

"I'm sorry." John raised an eyebrow at the two doctors who stood stiffly in front of him. "I swear I just heard you say she's off-world with Lieutenant Cadman."

Dr. Byers and Dr. Pearson nodded in tandem like a combo bobble-head doll.

John sighed and glanced at Ronon who standing perfectly still, his arms crossed over his chest, staring at a spot on the wall to their left. To most it was a normal, Ronon-esque stance, but John could see the bulge in the side of Ronon's jaw. The other man was working very hard to control himself. John would have applauded, if not for the fact that he had his own issues to control.

"You sent a pregnant woman to a village where the women can't get pregnant?" Ronon asked with a low growl. "Am I the only one who sees the problems with this?"

"She elected to go." Dr. Pearson said quickly, earning him another bobbing nod of agreement from Dr. Byers.

John clamped his hand on Ronon's arm when the Satedan's weight shifted. "I don't care if she's electing them a new president." John sighed, exasperated. "That's not the point."

Marie walked quickly into the infirmary and stopped next to the awkwardly tense group. "Jennifer confirmed that there was no pathogenic or chemical reason the women were unable to conceive." She said firmly. "She believes it is merely a case of misinformation."

"Misinformation?" John blinked.

"Dr. Keller believes they are…" Dr. Byers rolled his eyes. "Doing something wrong…"

"Doing something wrong…" John raised an eyebrow. "And she's gone to…what? Show them how to do something… _right_?" He winced when Ronon growled. "Sorry Chewy. Bad choice of words."

Ronon exhaled sharply. "Can we go now?"

John glanced at Marie, who nodded. "The blood work on the village women came back fine. There's no chemicals or pathogens or any indication of anything natural or otherwise, that could cause her any harm."

"Right. Because in this galaxy we only have _chemicals_ to worry about…" Ronon growled, spinning on his heel and striding out of the infirmary.

John sighed and followed his friend. Clearing his throat he tapped his com. "Major Lorne this is Colonel Sheppard. Ready your team."

John heard a rather distinctive snort before the Major answered, his grin evident in the sound of his voice. "How long she been gone this time?"

"Check in was just over an hour ago." John jogged the rest of the way to the transporter, squeaking in as Ronon triggered the doors. "Chuck tried contacting them twice. No answer."

"Planning on implementing that new rule yet?" Evan asked.

"Effective immediately." John scowled, recalling his conversation with the Major earlier in the week for Dr. Keller to be permanently assigned a full detail for every and any off-world trip. He stepped off the lift and headed down the corridor towards the armory. "And no more going off world with Cadman."

"Cadman!" Evan barked. "Please tell me it's not just the two of them?"

John sighed. "Apparently it is."

"Who the hell let the two of them leave _alone_?" Evan's voice was a mix of incredulity and anger.

"Apparently the good Doctor pulled the CMO card." John glanced at Ronon, knowing full well the Satedan was going to try and put a stop to that little power struggle damn fast. Then John snorted and shook his head with a smirk.

There was no way Ronon was going to win.

* * *

"God I'd kill for a hamburger…" Jen muttered, stepping around the massive root structure of a fallen tree.

"Mmm." Laura agreed, nodding her head. "Loaded. With extra pickles."

"Cheese and bacon."

"And fries."

"Onion rings."

"Home made 'slaw." Laura smacked her lips together.

"And a coke." Jen sighed, rubbing her abdomen absently. "Oh, I miss coke…"

"You can drink Root Beer, can't you?"

"It's not the same." Jen whined. "No caffeine, no beer…"

"God. No beer. I'd die." Laura snorted.

"Yeah you would…" Jen smirked.

"Hush."

"Seriously." Jen giggled. "You brain would explode."

"Shush!"

"What? You know I'm right."

"No!" Laura hissed, clamping her hand over Jen's mouth. "I mean shut-up!"

Jen held her breath and strained to hear whatever it was Laura heard. Muffled voices cut through the silence and Jen jerked slightly. The villagers?

Laura pointed back the way they came, a light orange glow bobbing between the trunks. "Torches."

"Shit." Jen cursed. "I told you we should have waited for backup!"

"You told me to blow it up!" Laura hissed. "Do something _Marine'ish_ you said!"

"And you listened!" Jen gaped. "Since when do you ever listen to me?"

"Since you're hormonal and obviously insane!" Laura whispered, pulling Jen back towards the massive, upturned tree they just past. "Get down." She strained, holding back a chunk of the dried and dirty roots.

Jen dropped to her knees and crawled into the large cavern formed between the root ball and the huge trunk. Laura scurried in behind her, letting the roots fall down around them. Dried chunks of dirt cascaded down around them, tickling Jen's nose. She pinched it closed, blocking the sneeze.

Laura shifted and dropped to her knees, angling the barrel of her P90 out through the roots.

Jen smacked her across the shoulder. "They'll see you!"

"Not until it's too late."

"You're not shooting anyone."

Laura snorted. "If you don't shut up they're going to hear us."

Jen clamped her mouth shut and glared at her friend.

Voices approached, and Jen peered through the dangling roots at the group of men who hurried down the trail. The angle and the trees blocked her view of who was there, but the torchlight illuminated over a dozen pairs of legs.

"I told you…" The men were arguing. "You should have left them alone!"

"How was I supposed to know they could do that kind of damage?"

"You're an idiot, Mercer." One man spat, speaking directly of the village leader.

Jen recognized the leader's voice as he replied. "I didn't mean anything by it! Surly they will see that."

"Do you know who their people are?" A third voice chimed in. "We'd better find them, fast!"

"And then what?" A forth asked.

"Yeah, then what?"

"They blew up our jail! They must be made to pay for this insolence!"

"We tried to drug them."

"YOU tried... don't include me."

"That was a mistake."

"Obviously."

"They won't help us now!"

"Then we make them! You saw her! She is pregnant. She must know the secret!"

"She told you the _secret_, you stupid little man!"

"Shut up."

"You don't honestly believe that… that… witchcraft she touted!"

"Actually…"

"Well I don't!"

"I did."

"It made sense…"

"I thought so."

"Marcia liked her…"

"Yes well your wife is almost as stupid as you are."

"Hey!"

"Stop fighting and walk faster. We have to get to the gate before they do."

"Then what?"

"If you'd all shut up long enough for me to think…"

"You can't just keep them here."

"The redhead sure was pretty."

"Shut up Petr."

"Well she is!"

"We need to beg their forgiveness for your stupidity, Mercer… maybe they'll take pity on us."

"Well we can't send them back now! What if they tell their people!"

"Then what? We keep them?"

"Can I have the redhead?"

"Would you stop it already?!"

"What do you tell their people when they come looking?"

"Maybe they were kidnapped."

"What kind of plan is that?"

"We'll send them looking away from us."

"They'll never leave without proof."

"So we'll find some proof."

"You'll going to get us all killed!"

And on it went as the group passed… half arguing for letting Jen and Laura go, half arguing that it would be foolish to let them escape… and most arguing the merits of her advice to regulate their attempted baby-making to a more pronounced schedule… and not every thirty seconds like horny rabbits.

Jen exhaled and unpinched her nose as the group finally disappeared through the trees, their voices no longer audible.

"Wow…" Laura muttered as she helped Jen crawl out from beneath the roots. "Are all your missions this much fun?"

"Shut up." Jen sneezed, clamping her hands over her mouth to keep the noise down.

Laura shook her head with disappointment. "Could you be any louder?"

"I tried!" Jen held her breath and stared down the pathway, but the villagers didn't return. After a moment she exhaled and turned back towards Laura. "Now how do we get through the gate?"

"We don't." Laura shrugged.

"We… huh?" Jen shook her head, confused. "What do you mean we don't?"

"There are a dozen armed villagers arguing over keeping us, kidnapping us, or letting us go. We have no idea who's going to win."

"So…"

"So we wait."

"I am not sitting in the middle of the forest waiting for someone to decide to shoot me."

"They're not going to shoot you. They think you're _fertile_." Laura snorted.

"I'm already knocked up." Jen scowled, wobbling her head back and forth. "You're the one they think is _purty_!"

"I _am_ purty."

"Yeah well the gap-toothed guy certainly seemed to agree. You and your eight children will be very happy here… raising goats."

"Oh shut it." Laura sighed. "I'm trying to think, here."

"Good. Think us up a drive-thru while you're at it." Jen muttered, stepping into the undergrowth behind the tree stump.

"Where are you going?"

"Pee."

"You just went!"

"That was twenty minutes ago."

"More like five…" Laura muttered, glancing at her watch. "Make it quick. We should get going."

"Where?" Jen asked, her voice coming from behind the fallen trunk.

"The gate."

Jen popped up and yanked up her pants, fumbling with the button then giving up, opting to let her extended stomach keep the damn things in place. "I thought you said we can't go to the gate."

"I said we can't go _through_ the gate." Laura moved down the path in the direction the villagers had gone. "I didn't say we couldn't go near the gate."

"Okay." Jen sighed. "I'll bite. Why are we going _near_ the gate."

"Because those guys are gonna take one look at angry daddy and run screaming in the other direction." Laura rubbed her hands together enthusiastically. "I'm so not going to miss that."

"I'm so grounded." Jen muttered. 'If he doesn't shoot me first."

Laura dropped her arm around her friend's shoulder and gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

Jen raised an eyebrow. "And who's going to protect me from you?"

Laura made a face. "You wound me."

"Oh I'll wound you all right."

"We already had this conversation." Laura smiled. "You love me."

"I changed my mind."

"Well change it back, Sneezy." Laura pointed to the trail and the orange glow reflecting off the trees. "How fast can you run?"

Jen's eyes dropped to her stomach, then back up at Laura. "You're kidding, right?"

Laura sighed and lifted her P90, shifting to position herself between Jen and the returning mob. "I was afraid you were going to say that."


	16. Chapter 16

Ronon paced a narrow path across the floor of the gate room, his blaster spinning around and around as he waited for the gate to finish it's dialing sequence.

"He going to make it?" Evan asked, angling his head towards John.

John glanced over his shoulder at Ronon.

"_He'll_ be fine." John turned back to the Major. "It's the people on the other side I'm worried about."

Evan nodded and moved back to his team as the gate liquefied.

"Let's move." Ronon growled, stepping through the event horizon, not waiting to see if the others followed.

"You heard him, people." John gripped his P90 and stepped forward, leading the rest of their group through the wormhole.

They exited the far side in darkness, the cool night air crisp and fresh. The trees around them glowed blue from the light of the ring, the shadows long and murky. As soon as everyone crossed, the light dissipated and the gate dissolved, plunging them into darkness.

Evan directed his team to scout the perimeter, while Teyla and Ronon moved towards a well worn path leading into the forest.

"McKay?" John turned towards the scientist.

Rodney pulled the scanner from the pocket on his vest. "Two clusters of life signs." He pointed ahead and to the right. "Big group three clicks that way." Then he swung his finger to the left. "Smaller group one click that way."

"Any singles?" Evan asked as John glanced over Rodney's shoulder. "Doubles?"

"No." John shook his head and pointed to the screen of the handheld. "So if that's the village..."

"What's the other group?" Evan asked.

John shrugged. "_Not_ the village?"

"We could flip a coin?" Evan suggested.

"Rock paper scissors?" Browne added.

"There's only two choices, mathematician." Sanchez snorted. "Village or not."

"My vote's for not." Ellis glanced over his shoulder at John and Evan. "With Doc's luck?" he clarified with a shrug. "The village is too easy."

A staccato burst of gunfire in the distance split the night, turning everyone in an anxious circle.

_A P90._

With a heated growl Ronon jumped forward and disappeared through the shadows.

"Move!" John shouted, leading the charge as the group ran into the trees.

* * *

Torchlight illuminated the trail as the villagers quickly approached.

"Okay." Laura commanded, clamping her fingers down on Jen's wrist. She tugged Jen's fingers around behind her back and pushed them against her belt. "Hold on and do not let go."

"But…" Jen hissed.

"Do it, Doc." Laura ordered, shifting her P90 up and moving it left to right, doing her best to keep herself between Jen and the approaching mob.

Jen knew that if Laura was using titles, and not names, the situation was _not_ good. She wrapped her fingers around the back of Laura's belt and stepped in behind her, turning so she could guide Laura backwards down the trail.

"Back off, boys." Laura warned, sending a burst of P90 fire into the treetops as the group clustered closer.

The men stopped, their eyes switching from Laura to the village leader, who paused only slightly before walking forward.

"Please. We only wish to talk." Mercer, the village leader held his hand up in surrender.

"Right." Laura kept her eyes on the crowd, not liking how the men were spreading into a circle around them. She continued to move backwards with Jen's guiding hand pulling on her belt, but with a dozen of them, they were blocked off too quickly.

Laura moved with him, stopping when Jen stopped pulling. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that they were now locked within a circle of men and torches. She felt Jen's fingers at her hip, going for her M9. She held still, giving Jen time to withdraw the weapon.

"Put down your weapons, we mean you no harm." One of the others called out, sliding around to the left.

"Harm like, oh say, drugging us?" Laura snapped, her eyes scanning quickly around. Jen turned and pressed her back flat against Laura's, her shoulder stiffening as she lifted the gun, covering the back half of the crowd. Laura didn't need to feel the tremble in her friend's shoulders to know Jen was scared, but she also knew Jen would do everything she could to protect her baby – including shooting someone.

"There's no need for this." One of the men in front of Laura spoke and lifted his hand.

"Good." Laura nodded. "Then if you'll get out of the way, we have a plane to catch."

"Leaving is not possible." Mercer shook his head.

"Come on, Mercer." One of the men on Jennifer's side scowled. "Let them go."

"Yeah." Laura glared at the village leader. "What he said."

"I said no." Mercer scowled.

"They came to help." Another man piped up.

"We need to let them leave." A third argued.

"Mercer, you're going to get us all killed." Another man exclaimed, earning several muttered nods of agreement.

"I'm trying to save your future, Olan." Mercer spat.

"Leave them alone." Another man said gruffly.

"If they leave, they'll bring the rest of the 'Lanteans back." A tall, reedy man whined.

"We aren't kidnappers!" The man beside him argued.

"They distroyed our jail!" Another pointed out.

"Well if Mercer hadn't tried to keep them…" The first pointed at the leader.

"_I'd_ like to keep them." A heavy set man beside Jen leered and grabbed his crotch.

Jen let out a strangled gurgle, but didn't need to defend herself because the man across from her reached out and shoved the letch with a jab to the shoulder. Not appreciating the punch, the first man turned and slugged the other man across the jaw, sending him sprawling into the dirt.

And just as suddenly, the rest of the crowd turned in on itself.

Laura shook her head slowly, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Tossing torches to the ground, men dove for each other, punches flying as the two sides struggled for dominance. Doubles and triples fought to the ground, slamming against tree trunks, fists and feet flying. Grabbing Jen, Laura yanked her backwards a fraction of a second before two fighters crashed to the ground at her feet. It took only seconds before the large group turned the forested path into a bar room brawl. When Mercer and two others tried to break up the fights, they were quickly pulled into the scuffle.

Jen leaned forward, reaching for a man who'd dropped unconscious to the path in front of her, but Laura yanked her back.

"Move it, Keller!" Laura ordered, shoving Jen towards the trees.

"They're going to kill each other!" Jen jumped back with a squeal when two large men trampled past her, fists flying.

"Let them!" Laura grabbed Jen by the upper arm and swung her to the left, seconds before an overweight giant slammed to the ground where she would have been standing..

"We can't just leave…" Jen ducked the swing of a torch when one of the fighters decided to use the burning end as a weapon. "Do something!"

"I'm getting you out of here, that's what I'm doing!" Laura leaned back and planted the heel of her boot into the groin of a tall, skinny man who jumped towards them. The man crumpled with a loud whimper, his hands squeezed between his thighs.

Mercer appeared in front of them, his hand clutching a bloody and obviously broken nose. "Thib ib all your faulb!" He shouted, jabbing his index finger at Laura.

"Oh my! Here, let me—" Jen began, but her attempt to help the man was immediately cut off by Laura who spun her around with a hard tug, switching their positions. The move placed Laura face to face with the leering creep who was sneaking up behind Jen, his mouth bloody from the recent loss of both his front teeth. But it also sent Jen stumbling into Mercer, who grabbed her roughly by the arm.

Laura slammed the end of her P90 into the creep's forehead, sending the man dropping to the dirt. A girlish howl behind her spun her around to rescue Jen, but she burst out laughing when she saw Jennifer's fingers pinching Mercer's broken nose. The village leader let out a whimpering wail and bent forward. His suffering was cut off when a blast of blue energy caught him in the middle of the back and he dropped to the ground unconscious.

Ronon strode down the path, his eyes on Jennifer. John, Evan and Teyla fanned out on either side, with Evan's team quickly circling around the still brawling villagers.

"Oh thank god." Jen exhaled, stepping over Mercer and walking straight through the fighting. A collective gasp went up from the team members as she sidestepped a man dragging another in a headlock, and ducked a chunk of wood a third man swung (and missed) at the first man, then flattened herself against Ronon's chest, both arms locking tightly around his torso.

With one arm around her waist, Ronon swung her to the side and forced her back into the trees. "Are you okay?" He growled, pulling back to give her a thorough once-over.

"I'm fine." She blinked up at him, her bottom lip wavering. "Take me home."

Ronon pulled her close again, staring over her head as the teams attempted to dislodge the scrapping villagers from each other.

"What the hell happened?" Ronon growled.

Jen buried her face against his chest. "I have no idea."

"Jennifer." Teyla said softly. "Are you all right?"

Jen nodded and rolled her head towards the Athosian. "I'm okay. Really. I just want to get the hell out of here."

"May I?" Teyla stepped around her and extracted the M9 from Jen's fingers.

"Oh. Right." Jen let go of Ronon and stared at the gun in Teyla's hand. "It's Laura's."

"I thought it might be." Teyla smiled, turning towards Laura who was walking towards them. She handed the Lieutenant the weapon, and Laura dropped it back into the holster.

The three women turned to watch the villagers supporting themselves as they moved down the path back towards the village, herded by Ellis and Sanchez. A few cast disparaging looks over their shoulder at Laura and Jen, but they moved away without issue, dragging the unconscious Mercer between them.

Rodney joined them, glaring at Laura.

"What?" Laura scowled.

"Only you could start a bar-room brawl without a bar." Rodney snorted.

Laura grinned. "Thanks!"

"That wasn't a compliment." He frowned.

"Sure it was!" She laughed.

"You okay, Doc?" John stepped up, followed by Evan.

"I'm fine." Jen answered with a half smile. "Can we go now?"

"Uh…" John glanced over his shoulder at the disappearing villagers, then turned back with a shrug. "I don't see why not?"

"Good." Jen looked up at Ronon. "Home, please."

Ronon snorted and dropped his hand, hooking his fingers through hers. He turned and guided her back out of the undergrowth and onto the trail.

"So." John looked at Laura. "What'd you blow up?"

Laura blinked and stepped after Jen. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Sir."

"Uh-huh." Evan frowned at her, falling in beside her.

"What?" She gave him an innocent smile.

"Don't give me that look…" Evan raised an eyebrow.

"What look?"

"That happy little smirk you get after you've sufficiently destroyed something." John said from behind them.

"She blew up the jail." Jen answered over her shoulder.

"What jail?" Rodney asked.

"Why… did you blow up the jail?" John frowned at Laura.

Laura pursed her lips and glared arrows at Jen's back.

"So we could get out." Jen answered.

Laura rolled her eyes at her friend.

"You were in jail?" Ronon stopped, pulling Jen around to face him.

She nodded. "Only for about an hour."

"Oh nice going, mouthpiece." Laura glared at Jen. "Some spy you make."

"I'm not a spy, I'm a doctor." Jen scowled.

"Obviously." Laura rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't you be trying to blame this on me…" Jen stepped closer to Laura.

"You're the one they wanted to keep!" Laura pointed out.

"Keep?" Ronon growled.

"Oh they wanted you too, _Redhead_…" Jen scowled.

"I'm not the _fertile_ one!" Laura countered, eyes dropping to Jen's extended belly.

"What?" John glanced at the confused faces of the others. "Uh… okay… ladies… maybe we should…"

"Yeah well at least _my_ guy wasn't a creepy letch!" Jen raised an eyebrow, ignoring the Colonel's attempt to move them forward again.

"Your guy?" Evan blinked and turned towards Laura.

"No, _your guy_ just tried to drug your soup!" Laura stepped closer to Jen, her voice louder.

"He drugged yours too!" Jen practically shouted.

"Drugged?" John scowled, hooking his arm through Laura's and pulling her back. "Who drugged your soup?"

"What soup?" Rodney asked.

"Ha!" Laura wiggled her index finger at Jen. "At least I figured out how to get us out of here!"

Jen snatched for Laura's finger, but the Lieutenant retracted her hand just in time. "I'm going to kick your ass…" She jumped towards Laura, but Ronon grabbed her arms and hauled her back, pushing her behind him.

Evan hooked his arms around Laura and held her while the Lieutenant struggled.

"You couldn't find my—"

A sharp whistle broke the air and everyone winced.

Evan glanced over his shoulder at Ellis, who removed his thumb and index finger from his mouth and nodded.

"Okaaaay." John sighed, drawing the word out with a long, slow exhale. He turned towards Laura. "In twenty words or less, tell me what happened."

Laura turned towards John. "Village leader that can't have kids wanted blonde who could have kids. We said no."

"And he put you in jail." Evan glanced at her.

Laura nodded. "Yup."

"So you blew it up." John confirmed.

"Yup."

"Then you ran away and what… started a brawl?"

"Yup."

"How?" Evan asked.

"Half of them wanted to tell you we'd been kidnapped and send you on a wild goose chase through the gate, the other half wanted to let us go. Apparently it was a draw."

"Kidnapped?" Rodney frowned. "Why would you have been kidnapped?"

"We wouldn't." Laura shook her head. "It was going to be their story for why we disappeared."

"That makes no sense." Rodney shook his head.

With an angry growl, Ronon stepped forward and headed down the path in the direction of the village.

"Where are you going?" John scowled as Ronon pushed past him.

"To kill him…" Ronon stated over his shoulder, yanking his blaster out of it's holster.

"You already shot him!" Laura called out.

"Then I'll shoot him again."

"You ah… sure you don't want to go back with the Doc?" Sanchez asked quietly as Ronon strode past him.

Ronon slid to a stop and turned. "What?!" He growled.

"The Doc…" Sanchez nodded.

Browne angled his chin up the trail. "She already left."

Ronon spun on his heel, staring at the spot where Jennifer had been standing moments before.

The currently vacant spot.

Everyone turned, eyes on the path, the trees, and the area around them.

Jennifer was gone.

Ronon let out an exasperated growl and ran past everyone, down the trail towards the gate. He caught up to her around the first bend. She was walking quickly, her arms swinging back and forth at her side.

"You should have waited." He fell into step beside her and glanced down, not missing the tracks of tears.

"You were busy." She mumbled, swiping angrily at her cheeks.

"Hey." He dropped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. "Never for you."

She sighed wearily, her shoulders stiff. Then she hooked her arms around his waist and hugged him. "I don't like it here."

"Then let's go home." He stepped back and reached for her hand.

Jen slipped her fingers into his and gripped them tightly, letting him guide her down the trail.

Several yards behind the others paused, giving them time to get ahead.

"That woman's going to be the death of me." Laura muttered, walking after them. Everyone slowly followed, one after the other, until only John and Evan remained.

"New rule?" Evan glanced at John before falling in at the back.

"New rule." John nodded in agreement, taking up the rear. "That woman is _not_ allowed to step foot out of the damn city without a four point guard of seasoned Pegasus vetrans. No recruits what-so-ever."

"And at team on standby?" Evan added.

"With a jumper." John agreed.

"Extra clips."

"C4."

"Grenades."

"Should we give her a second transmitter?"

"You think we need to?"

"Couldn't hurt."

"Tempting…"


	17. Chapter 17 The Sixth Month

**The Sixth Month**

* * *

"Mornin" John nodded at the trio seated around the table in the corner of the mess hall. Ronon, Jennifer and Rodney were all in various states of completing their breakfast. He set his loaded tray onto the table next to Ronon and pulled the empty chair on his right out for Teyla.

"Good morning." Teyla smiled at the others as she took the offered seat, setting her tray in front of her.

"Mornin'" A Jen and Ronon echoed around mouthfuls of food.

At the far end of the table, Rodney snorted and lifted his coffee mug in salute, then turned his gaze back to Jennifer, who was sitting at the far end, directly across from him.

John settled into his chair and took a healthy swig of the cooking staff's excuse for coffee. Setting it down with a grimace, he noted Rodney's half amused, half incredulous expression and turned his head to see just what the scientist was staring at.

Jennifer had finished her breakfast, her empty plate shoved haphazardly to the side. She was leaning across Ronon's forearm, her fork stabbing chunks of scrambled egg off the Satedan's plate. John blinked at the oddly symmetrical dance. Ronon would shovel up a scoop, and as his hand lifted his fork his mouth, Jen's fork would dive in. Personally, John likened the act of reaching in front an eating Ronon to something akin to trying to push a tiger off it's kill. Very… very… dangerous.

"Hungry, Doc?" John ventured, turning to his own stack of pancakes.

"God… you have no idea…" Jen muttered as Ronon gave up and slid his plate under his arm towards her.

John glanced at Teyla, who was trying, and failing, to hide her smile.

"Now Doc," Evan tisked as he approached, balancing an overflowing tray. "You should know better than to take food from a growing boy." The Major set his tray down and slid Ronon's plate back over in front of the Satedan, then set a heaping plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and sausage down in front of Jen.

Jen laughed at the mountain of food. "Evan… that's way too much."

"Uh-huh." The major snorted, dropping down into the vacant chair beside her. "Eat."

John furrowed his brow and eyed the Major with open curiosity.

Evan raised an eyebrow in return. "What?"

John tipped his head towards Jennifer's full plate.

"Ah." Evan nodded in understanding. "Carson's orders."

"Orders to what? Prepare for hibernation?" John eyed Jen's quickly disappearing meal warily.

Teyla wacked him across the arm.

"What?" John shook his head and turned towards the Athosian.

"Doctor Beckett has ordered Jennifer to double her caloric intake." Teyla said with a nod. "She has not been gaining the proper amount of weight for this stage of her pregnancy."

John turned back towards Jennifer when the young doctor snorted in disgust.

"I'm carrying a beach-ball around my middle." She muttered around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "How much more weight does he think I need to gain?"

"You heard it yourself." Evan pointed a forkful of pancake at her. "Double the calories or he's going to confine you to quarters."

Jen snorted. "I' d like to see him try."

"So… everything's okay, though? Right?" John's concern was evident as he looked from Ronon to Jen.

Jen nodded, and angled her head towards John. "Apparently the baby requires more energy and nutrients than my normal diet provides."

"And this surprises you?" John raised his eyebrows and glanced at Ronon.

"I'm eating enough for three people and I'm still hungry." Jen scowled at the half-empty plate, then glared at Ronon. "It's _not_ normal."

Ronon grinned around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"It's not funny." She muttered.

"Is." Ronon smirked.

Jen raised an eyebrow and pointed at him with a piece of bacon. "Don't make me hurt you."

At the far end of the table, McKay snorted, then immediately dropped the smirk when Jen turned her bacon pointing towards him.

"Anyone else want to comment on my weight?" She eyed the rest of the group, nodding with satisfaction when everyone became very, very interested in their meals. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She snapped a piece of bacon off with her teeth and crunched loudly.

Ronon leaned to the right, angling his head towards John. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

John snickered. "Sorry buddy, but at this point, I think even _you've_ met your match."

"I know." Ronon grinned and leaned back towards Jennifer.

"Don't you try to sweet talk me." She glared at Ronon, fighting a smile. "Now quit stalling and go threaten the cooks for more bacon. And tell them to make it crispy for goodness sake. None of that disgusting half-cooked floppy crap."

Ronon laughed and stood, bending quickly to place a quick kiss against her temple. "Yes, love."

John shook his head in mock disgust as the biggest, meanest, toughest piece of Wraith killing machine scurried off to do his pregnant wife's bidding. "You're killing me here, Doc." He whined. "You've gone and turned him into a house pet."

"Ouch…" Evan let out a groan, and scrunched his shoulders in a visible wince.

Several tables over a low growl hesitated conversation across their corner of the mess hall. Ronon paused his stride and turned back towards John, his face stony.

"Ah-ah!" Jen pointed her index finger at Ronon. "Go!" She ordered, then turned towards the Colonel. "Do you want to die?" She raised an eyebrow and glared at John, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm good. I'm good."

"You'd better be." She picked up her butter knife and waggled it at the Colonel. "Now hand over that bacon."

* * *

Jen shifted the medical case from one hand to the other as she turned the corner. The hallway was long and dark, reminders of the old flood still visible in the watermark staining the walls near the ceiling. She took a deep breath and inhaled slowly, the cool air of the lower levels brushing over her skin. She sighed happily, the cold air a welcome relief to the overly warm state her body seemed to be in lately.

An increase in temperature in the first few months was normal, but as she was quickly discovering, nothing with this pregnancy was normal. Carson had tested her and retested her and could only surmise that something subtle between her DNA and Ronon's kept her body temperature slightly elevated consistently. The baby wasn't in any danger, in fact it seemed to be more active than ever.

She'd given up wearing pants, choosing instead to steal half of Teyla's maternity wardrobe. The flowing skirts kept her cool, and if she should get a chill, her lab-coat was the perfect regulator. It also helped hide the narrow bodice Teyla had altered to help fit Jen's smaller frame. She was glad not to have drooping material across her chest, but mortified to note that the tops of most of the dresses showed off a little too much of her expanding bust line.

She rounded another corner, her hand shifting to her belly when the baby moved suddenly. "Easy peanut." She muttered, rubbing her lower abdomen. "And get off my bladder."

Up ahead, several Marines stood in the hallway. She spotted Evan and made a beeline for his position.

"Hey, Doc." He nodded, stepping forward, reaching out to take the case she carried. "You should have told me it was you coming, I would have met you at the transporter. That's a long way to walk."

"I'm pregnant. Not dead. And exercise is good." Jen snorted and fell into step beside him as he parted the Marines and lead her towards an open doorway.

"You aren't supposed to be carrying anything." Evan reminded her.

Jen glanced down at her stomach, then back up at the Major.

Evan smirked and rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Jen grinned. "Just take me to my patient."

Evan lead her through the open doorway into a large cavern of a room. The first thing Jen noticed was how unnaturally still the sound was inside the room. It was as though the room itself was muted. Even her footsteps carried no sound. It had been quite a while since she'd been last down here and she'd almost forgotten how unsettling the atmosphere was.

The room was used for training because of its size and its distance from the main tower. It was far enough away to keep curious onlookers from distracting the sessions, and big enough to house just about any scenario the trainers could come up with. It was void of any furniture, windows, or distractions. The walls and floor were bare save for the massive mats strategically placed in groups around the room. From the ceiling to floors above her head dangled several groups of black, knotted rope.

A group of ten recruits, dressed symmetrically in navy pants and kaki t-shirts, stood in a semi circle around another man who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his left shoulder clearly dislocated. She quickly scanned the youthful faces, recognizing a few from their routine medicals when they arrived two days ago. They were all young and eager, and obviously someone had gone a little too far.

She knelt on the floor next to the injured man. He glanced up at her, his face stony, but his eyes reflecting the pain he was feeling.

"I'm Dr. Keller." She said with a half smile, placing her fingers reassuringly against the young man's forearm. "Let's take a look and see if we can get this back in place."

The man nodded.

"What happened?" Jen asked him, easing her fingers over the injured area.

Evan squatted next to her and set the case to her right. "Corporal Summerville tried to play Tarzan."

"Is that true?" She glanced at the Corporal.

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded.

"Ah." Jen glanced at the young man, his embarrassment evident as he dropped his gaze to the mat beneath him. "Well next time try the fight scene from _Soldier_." Jen suggested, smiling as Corporal Summerville's gaze snapped up.

Muffled snorts came from the group of men around them as Jen smiled and nodded to the Corporal. "It's much more challenging when you get to take someone down with you."

Evan shook his head in dismay. "You gotta stop hanging out with my men, Doc."

Then young man grinned, then winced when Jen's fingers probed too deeply.

"Okay." She turned to Evan. "We need to get him back to the infirmary."

"Can't you just… pop it back in?" The Corporal asked hopefully, eyeing the group standing around him.

"No." Jen looked quickly at the faces of his team members, before turning back to the Corporal. "But don't worry. We'll get you fixed up and you'll be back to shooting stuff in no time."

She moved around to his good side, reaching down to hook her hands under his arm. Evan exhaled a curse and firmly moved her to the side. She rolled her eyes as the Major guided the Corporal to his feet. The two men headed towards the hallway. Jen stopped to pick up her case but the handle was quickly snatched up by the nearest Marine.

"I've got it, Ma'am." He said.

Jen turned towards him, and angled her head. "And you are?"

"Sergeant Porter, Ma'am." He answered snappily.

"You have a first name, Sergeant?"

He nodded. "Jimmy, Ma'am."

Jen blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Well Jimmy, my name is Jennifer, or Doctor Keller, or just Doc. I am not a Ma'am. If you call me Ma'am one more time, I'll see to it that you're joining your team mate in the infirmary. Capiche?"

The Corporal nodded quickly. "Yes ma…" He blinked. "Doctor."

She glanced over her shoulder at the onlookers. "Understood?"

A snapped chorus of "Yes, Ma'am." echoed through the room, quickly followed by a hurried cacophony of _Yes Doc_ and _Yes_ _Doctor Keller_ when she glared.

"Doc, you done ordering my men around?" Evan called from the doorway.

Jen rolled her eyes and started towards the door, shadowed by Sergeant Porter, who was still carrying her case. Evan shifted around and stepped into the hallway, seconds before a single klaxon sounded and the door to the room wished closed with an audible clang.

Cold, dead silence descended around her as Sergeant Porter stepped forward and swiped his hand over the access panel. Nothing happened. He tried again. And again. Someone pounded on the door from the other side. Evan.

"Doc? Porter? What the hell's going on?" The Major's voice was muffled.

"It's locked, Sir." Porter answered, yelling at the closed door. "Access panel won't activate."

Muttered curses came through the door followed by the words _McKay_ and _hold tight_.

Jen reached up and activated her com. "Major, what the hell is going on?"

"Don't know, Doc. The room is sealed."

"Quarantine?" She asked, immediately fearing the worst.

"Negative." He replied. "It's just that room."

"Just this room." Jen blinked and stared past the Sergeant, eyeing the sealed door. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. "It's official. This city hates me."


	18. Chapter 18

"What have you got?" John asked as he strode into McKay's lab, Ronon at his heels. The two men had been out on a run when the call had come in. Explanations and assurances that Jennifer was fine momentarily appeased their worry, but they still faced a ten minute run back across the city to McKay's lab.

And a lot could happen in 10 minutes.

"It's about time you two showed up." Rodney turned away from his conversation with Zelenka and glowered at the two men. He held up his hands. "Before you ask, yes she's fine, no there's nothing dangerous in the room, and yes I'm working on it."

Radek cleared his throat.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "_We're_ working on it." He corrected.

"No change?" Ronon asked, stepping forward.

Rodney shook his head. "We're still locked out."

"Why can't you open it?" John threaded his arms across his chest.

"I can." Rodney scowled at the Colonel, then looked slightly sheepish. "Sort of."

"Sort of?" Ronon growled.

John interrupted before the scientist could retort. "What's stopping you?"

"Well, actually...sensory deprivation." Rodney answered.

"Sensory deprivation?" John repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Rodney nodded.

John blinked. "And that's important, why?"

Rodney rolled his eyes. "The room is a sensory deprivation…think tank." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Or rather it _was_ before that section of the city was flooded repeatedly. When we arrived, and again when the replicators tried to sink the city—"

"Your point?" John cut him off again.

"The room is a self contained, sealed unit." Rodney walked over to his computer, angling the monitor so the others could see it. The large screen showed a close up of the training area in the north pier, the room in question outlined with a sharp yellow border. He straightened and cross his arms over his chest, nodding appreciatively. "It has it's own power chain, air supply, ventilation, and sensor controls. Quite interesting actually. It's totally separate from the rest of the mainframe. We never noticed it before because it's been powered down. It didn't begin drawing power from the grid until after it came on line."

"What's it do?" John asked.

"It doesn't _do_ anything." Rodney blinked. "It's an empty room. Completely harmless."

"It's not harmless if it's got our people locked inside." John pointed out.

"Actually that's whole point of the room." Rodney nodded.

"What is?" John frowned.

Rodney pointed to the monitor. "Keeping people in."

"Why?" Ronon stepped closer.

"Ascension." Radek answered, moving around Rodney.

"What?" John repeated.

"Ascension." Radek repeated, poking his glasses up his nose with his index finger. "According to the Ancient database, the room was once used to assist with meditation. Specialized materials built into the surfaces mute all external sounds and help create a controlled atmosphere pertinent to helping the ancients achieve the meditative state they believed was needed to reach ascension."

"Guess that explains why the room always sounds so dead." Ronon pointed out.

"So, what's keeping you from opening the door?" John looked from Rodney to Radek and back again.

Both scientists shared at quick glance.

"We can't." Radek admitted.

"Why not?" Ronon growled.

"There's a problem…" Rodney said worriedly.

"What problem?" Ronon scowled.

"It would seem that Jennifer's presence is what triggered the sensors that activated the room controls." Rodney sighed. "Once on, the room closed itself with the sole task of keeping the occupant contained until they were calm enough to begin the deep meditation techniques the Ancients believed would help them Ascend."

"What the hell does that mean?" Ronon demanded.

"Here, let me show you." Radek pushed past Rodney to get to the computer. The floor plan switched to show a series of red pulsing dots spread around the walls of the room. "The walls contain bio feedback sensors tuned to pick up high levels of agitation—increased heart beat, increased blood flow, and increased body temperature. It's been sitting stagnant for years. Somehow Jennifer's presence seems to have… awoken it."

"How do you know it was Jennifer?" John asked.

Rodney made a noise somewhere between a snort and a laugh. He switched views on the monitor, a wide angle infrared image of almost a dozen people filled the screen. Ten were in various states of light orange, but it was the eleventh silhouette that made him blink. Shorter than all the others, and with a very obvious protrusion from the lower half of the body, the shape that was Jennifer was so bright she was almost red, and the area around her abdomen glowed a hot, hot white.

John pointed to the white ball. "Is that…?"

"Yup." Rodney nodded, glancing at Ronon. "The reason the room sealed itself."

John glanced over his shoulder at the Satedan behind him. "Not even born yet and your kid is already causing trouble."

Ronon snorted, his gaze locked on the monitor image of Jennifer.

"So why can't you open the door?" John shook his head, confused.

"Because the release controls are on the inside of the room."

John raised his eyebrow, angled his head, and frowned. "So…have Jennifer or one of the Marine's release it?"

"Gee…" Rodney said sarcastically. "Hadn't thought of that."

Ronon growled low in his throat and Rodney backpeddled. "Look, it's a catch 22." He shook his head and glanced at John. "To open the door we need to be inside the room, but we can't get inside the room to open the door."

"Why can't someone who's _already_ inside the room open the door?" John said, his voice slow, as though talking to a child.

"Because none of them have the ATA gene." Radek answered.

John blinked. "What?"

Rodney took a deep breath, and glanced over his shoulder at the group of heat signatures on the monitor. "The release switch is Ancient tech."

"Wait." John stepped forward. "You're telling me that out of eleven people…not _one_ of them is a gene carrier?"

"Yup." Rodney sighed. "Afraid so."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Wow." John blinked.

"Yeah." Rodney agreed.

"So what do we do?" Ronon asked, watching the moving forms on the screen.

"Well, the way I see it, we have two choices." Rodney frowned. "We find a way to calm Jennifer down enough that she's no longer registering a heat signature akin to nuclear fission," he switched the display back to the floor plan. "Or we find another way in."

"Well, seeing as how we're a good three months away from Plan A," John angled his head. "We're going to have to go with plan B."

"Plan B?" Rodney's brow furrowed. He glanced at Radek, who shrugged.

John stared at the image of the room's layout. He took a deep breath and held it. Exhaling with a nod he turned on his heel, tipped his head towards Ronon, and strode out into the hallway. "Come on. I have an idea."

"Idea?" Rodney called after them, but the two men didn't stop. With a curse he snatched up his tablet and scrambled after them. "What idea? Sheppard? Sheppard!"

* * *

"Oh come on…" Jennifer muttered into her com. "You've got to be kidding me."

"'Fraid not." John's voice answered. "You're good and stuck."

Jen spun around and glared at the ten Marines who were standing around the room. "You're telling me that not _one_ of them has the ATA gene?"

The ten _them_ in question watched Jennifer warily as she took two steps towards them before spinning back around to the door.

"That's what I'm telling you, yes." John confirmed.

Jen let out a decidedly unladylike curse and turned towards the unlit control crystals. She swiped her hand over it in frustration, cursing again when nothing happened. Stepping back, she paced a narrow path in front of the sealed exit. "How the hell haven't we noticed this before?"

"It hasn't been turned on before." John answered.

"Rodney!" Jen almost shouted.

"Yes?" came the scientist's slightly timid response.

"Get me out of here."

"I'm...trying."

"You're the smartest man in two galaxies, Rodney." Jennifer reminded him, continuing her agitated pacing. "Try harder."

"We're working on it." John said slowly. "Sit down and stop pacing. We need to keep you calm, not make you… hotter."

Jen's eyes narrowed and she stopped in front of the door. "How do you know I'm pacing?"

A pause.

"We have the entire room on infrared." John answered. "We can see you standing just inside the doorway."

"Well can you see this?" She flipped up her index finger towards the sealed door.

She heard Ronon's snort over the com and dropped her hand. Shaking her head she moved further into the room, ignoring the watchful glances of the Marines. Eying the black covered walls, she paused, dropping her hands to her stomach. The baby rolled and shifted, giving her a momentary sense of nausea before it settled back down again.

"Rodney, are you sure there's nothing dangerous in this room?"

"He's sure." Ronon answered, his low voice a reassuring relief.

Jen glanced up at the ceiling, ten pairs of eyes following her movement. "No crazy spiked things falling out of the ceiling?"

"No." He answered.

"No poisonous darts shooting out of the walls?" She returned her gaze to the walls, wincing when the baby rolled again.

"None."

"No Ancient booby traps?"

"Booby traps?" One of the young marines voiced, and was immediately shushed by a team mate.

"Jennifer." Rodney interrupted. "There is absolutely nothing in that room other than…well…a room. It's completely harmless."

"It's not harmless." She scowled, spinning back around to face the door. "Harmless isn't a giant rat-trap!"

"Rat trap?" John muttered, then cleared his throat. "Look, Doc. You need to calm down and just relax. We—"

"Calm down?" Jen sputtered, her voice increasing as she stalked forward, moving to stand at the entrance. "Calm down?! I'm trapped in a room that has the acoustics of a tomb, with no visible way out, and no amenities. I'm tired, hungry, and about ten minutes shy of really, REALLY needing a bathroom and you want me to calm down?!"

No one replied, but someone outside the room cleared their throat.

"Oh would you just blow the door already?!" She shouted at the closed door.

"We're not blowing the door!" Came a trio of hastily shouted replies.

"Why the hell not?" She fumed, planting her hands on her hips and glaring at the men she knew were standing on the other side.

"It's too dangerous?" John's answer was incredulous.

"Oh for God's sake…" Jen muttered, flinging her hands into the air in disgust. She turned on her heel and strode towards the back of the room. Several Marines hastily side stepped out of her way as she walked to the rear wall and circled around the outside edge. "I can't believe this. Where the hell is Laura?"

"Why?" John's voice contained a hint of worry.

"Get her down here!" Jen demanded. "I'm sure _she's_ not too scared to blow up a damn door. Stupid ancient rooms with stupid ancient only door controls…" she muttered. "Trapping people inside all because they're a little warm. I mean seriously, what kind of idiot would make a room like this and not put a warning on the outside? A big sign saying don't go inside if pregnant—"

"Jennifer." John tried to interrupt.

"If the damn carnies can figure it out…circus folk…amusement park operators? Signs. It's a simple little thing really. Don't ride this ride if pregnant. You'd think some schmancy-pants with the power to build a freekin flying city could—"

"Jennifer." John tried again.

"Make a sign. Is it really that much to ask? Even a small sign. Just a few words. Hell show a pregnant stick man with a line through it! Even that would be better than—"

"Jennifer!" Ronon shouted into the com.

"What!" She yelled back, spinning to glare at the door.

"Breathe." He ordered, his voice low and slow.

Jen took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I want out." She muttered.

"I know." He answered. "We're working on it."

"Well work faster." She sighed.

"Doc… would you mind if I talked to Sergeant Porter for a minute?" John asked.

"No…" She frowned. "Why would I mind?"

A pause. "You're the only one with a radio." He answered.

"Oh." Jen blinked then spun on her heel and stomped across the room towards the Sergeant, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor near the back wall.

Jimmy Porter scrambled to his feet as soon as he realized she was headed directly towards him.

Jen pulled of her com and handed it over. "Colonel Sheppard wants to talk to you."

Jimmy took the com and snapped it up to his ear. "Colonel Sheppard?"

"Sergeant." John said. "Listen up. We're working on a way in. I need you to keep everyone away from the south west corner."

"Roger that." Jimmy replied curtly, giving the empty corner a quick glance.

"And whatever you do…" John warned, "do _not_ let Dr. Keller anywhere near anything that is, or could be used as, a weapon."

Jimmy dropped his gaze to the petite woman standing in front of him. "Sir?"

"Trust me, Sergeant." John said firmly. "She's as dangerous as they come."

Jennifer's eyes narrowed and she held her hand out, palm up.

Jimmy blinked. "I believe Dr. Keller would like to speak to you."

"That's fine. Just keep that corner clear."

"Yes, Sir." Jimmy replied before putting the com into the Doctor's outstretched hand.

Jen picked up the unit and reseated it behind her ear. "What are you up to?" She demanded.

"Nothing." John said quickly.

"Are you blowing the door?"

"No!" John said firmly. "We are not blowing the door!"

"All right, fine." Jen turned to direct her glare the door on the far side of the room. "You have ten minutes to finish your _nothing_ and get me out of here."

"Ten minutes?"

"Ten minutes." She said firmly.

"Why ten minutes?"

"Because someone's child is stomping on my bladder."

"Oh." John's response was swift. "Right. Ten minutes it is."


	19. Chapter 19

"You still there Doc?"

Almost ten minutes to the second, John's voice came over the com, startling Jen. She jerked and let out a small squeak, wincing when ten pairs of eyes immediately shifted towards her in concern and wariness.

She sighed. "And where would I have gone?"

John snorted. "Can you give Porter your com?"

She pulled the com off her ear and held it out to Sergeant Porter, who been following her around the room like a shadow. The one-sided conversation consisted of the Sergeant nodding his head and repeatedly answering whatever John was saying with _Yes, Sir_. Finally he lowered his hand and placed the com back in Jen's palm.

Jen hooked it over her ear. "Please tell me your going to open the door."

"We're going to open the door." John said, his smile evident.

"Thank God." Jen muttered, turning towards the sealed metal exit.

"After we open the ceiling." John said cryptically, his voice pulling with an odd echo.

"What?" Jen frowned, and looked up, her gaze drawn to ceiling above the south west corner, and an odd sliver of light. She walked quickly towards it, only to find herself facing a wall of navy and kaki. She scowled, but refused to tear her gaze away from the increasing light in the ceiling two floors up. The longer she watched, the larger the crack of light became, the edges of the image forming a complete square.

With a startled gasp she realized she was looking up at a hole in the corner of the roof, and the white glare was actually the glow from a work light. A dark object dropped through the hole, uncoiling and expanding into a large, knotted rope. The bottom of the coil landed with a barley audible plop on the floor below, the top end remaining in the hole above.

Jen shook her head slowly as a pair of regulation boots hooked over the lip of the opening, followed by a pair of legs which twisted around the rope. John's upper body appeared through the opening and he quickly descended to the floor below. He stepped away from the rope and crossed the room to Jennifer. The wall of Marines in front of her parted.

"You okay?"

"Yes." She nodded, eyeing the rope behind him. "Please tell me that is not your answer?"

"It's not my answer." He smirked, then walked towards the door on the other side of the room. "Let's get you out of here, shall we?"

"God, yes." She exhaled.

John stopped in front of the door and swiped his hand over the access panel.

Nothing happened.

He did it again.

Nothing.

He tapped his com, and waved his hand in front of the sensor several times. "McKay. I thought you said this thing needed the gene?"

"It does." Came Rodney's quick reply.

"The door sensor?" John waggled his palm in front of the control panels, scowling when it didn't release the door.

"Yes….the door sensor." Rodney said curtly.

"It doesn't work."

"What do you mean it doesn't work?"

"I mean, it doesn't work!" John glared at the closed door.

"How can it not work?" Rodney asked. "What did you do?!"

"I didn't _do_ anything!" John retorted. "It doesn't work."

"It…" Rodney paused. "Wait."

"Wait, what?" John glanced at Jennifer, who was standing with her hands on her hips, eyeing the panel as though she wanted to rip it off the wall.

"Just wait!" Rodney repeated.

"McKay…" John glanced over his shoulder at Jen. "Waiting is not a good idea…"

"Are the crystals activated?" Rodney asked.

"Activated?" John repeated.

Rodney sighed. "Are they lit up?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"They're not lit up?"

"No, Rodney. They're not lit up."

"Oh."

"What do you mean, oh."

"Pry the cover off." Rodney instructed.

John reached out and wriggled the cover loose. The minute the seal was broken and the cover removed, a sharp, pungent odor wafted under his nose. "Uh oh." He made a face.

"Uh-oh what?" Rodney repeated.

"They're fried."

"Fried?"

John frowned. "The crystals, Rodney. They're fried. Baked. Charred. Bar-b-cued. The activation must have shorted them out."

"Are you sure because—"

"He's sure, Rodney." Jen cut the scientist off, reaching towards the destroyed door control.

John slapped her fingers away and gave her a sharp glare. "There could still be power," he hissed.

Jen rolled her eyes and turned abruptly, bumping right into a warm, solid chest. She let out a happy sigh and wrapped her arms around Ronon's waist. He folded himself around her and bent to kiss the top of her head.

"Crap." John muttered, poking at the crisped crystals with his index finger. "Ronon?"

Ronon grinned at Jen then leaned forward until he was directly behind John's hunched shoulders.

"What?" He growled.

John jerked at the nearness of the voice, and smashed his knuckles off the edge of the panel. He exhaled and glared over his shoulder. "Funny."

Ronon shrugged.

John angled his chin towards the group of recruits standing a few feet away. "Get them out of here."

Ronon stepped back and waved the Marines towards the rope leading up to the hole in the ceiling.

"So…" Jen glanced from John to the door control, then back to John again. "Is it time for Plan C, yet?"

"Plan C." John nodded slowly, then rolled his eyes with a disgusted snort. He ran his hand through his hair, leaving it spiked in various new directions. "Major Lorne?"

"All ready on it, Sir." Came Evan's quick reply.

"Tell her to bring me something to drink." Jen said crisply.

"Her?" John asked.

"Cadman." She answered.

"What makes you think Laura's coming?"

"C for Cadman?" Jen answered, then tipped her head. "Or is it C for C4?"

"I thought C was for Cookie?" Came Laura's snarky retort over the com.

Jen snorted. "Bring me a ginger-ale, will ya?"

"Already got it." Laura answered. "Be there in two."

"Hurry up. I have to pee like a fiend."

"Yes my love…" Laura sang.

"Ginger-ale?" John reached for Jen's upper arm and guided her closer to the middle of the room.

"I'm thirsty." She shrugged.

John's brow furrowed. "I thought you had to pee."

"I do."

John stared.

"What?" She frowned.

"Nothing." He shook his head and turned to watch the Marine's heading up the rope into the hole in the ceiling until there was only Sergeant Porter left standing next to Ronon.

"Sir?" the Sergeant questioned, with one hand on the rope.

"It's all good, Sergeant." John angled his chin towards the ceiling. "Get yourself up."

"Yes, Sir." Jimmy answered, then nodded towards Jen. "Doc."

"Thanks Jimmy." Jen smiled. "You make a lovely shadow."

Sergeant Porter nodded, and with a hop, grappled his way up the rope.

"_Jimmy_?" Ronon raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her.

She ignored his pointed stare and kept her gaze on the ceiling. "What's up there?"

"Power access tunnel." John pointed across the top of the roof. "Runs the length of that wall between the floors. It opens up into the corridor on level 5B."

Once the Sergeant was safely through the ceiling, Ronon pulled her away from the opening. He placed his hand across the front of her abdomen. "You okay?"

She nodded, covering his hand with hers. "We're fine."

The rope behind them wriggled in the air and the trio looked up. Laura's face appeared in the opening above.

"Honey, I'm home!" She sing songed with a saucy grin and a wave.

"Quit screwing around and get your ass down here." Jen said firmly.

"Meow." Laura smirked, lowering a rucksack through the hole.

Ronon stepped beneath the opening and caught it as it dropped. When she reached the bottom of the rope, Laura took her knapsack from Ronon and yanked a can of Ginger-ale out of the front pocket.

"Careful." She warned, handing it to Jen. "It might be fizzy."

"Why?" Jen frowned, eyeing the can warily. "Did you shake it?"

"No, I didn't shake it. I had to crawl through an access tunnel." Laura muttered, then leaned down to address Jen's stomach. Placing her hands on either side of Jen's abdomen, Laura smiled conspiratorially. "Don't worry peanut, Auntie Laura's here to save the day. Us girls don't need those nasty boys, do we?" Then she kissed Jen's cloth covered stomach and stood up, laughing when the baby rolled excitedly beneath her hands.

Jen tried to glare, but couldn't stop the giggle from escaping. "You're such a bad influence."

Laura winked. "Just wait until I teach her how to make C4 out of craft supplies."

John raised an eyebrow towards Laura. "How are you so sure it's a girl?"

Laura gaped at him. "Are you kidding? With the twisted luck she's had lately? It can only _be_ a girl!"

"Is it?" John glanced at Jennifer.

"We don't know." Jen shrugged glancing at Ronon before turning back to them. "We want it to be a surprise."

John blinked, then turned back to Laura. "Girl." they both echoed with firm nods.

* * *

"Just stay here." John muttered, stepping in front of Jen and preventing her from getting any closer to Laura, who was working around the frame of the door, doing something that made a tiny hissing noise.

"But I want to watch." Jen pouted, shifting her weight from side to side. Her bladder was reaching the level of painful and she was very anxious to think about something—anything—other than the desperate need to find a bathroom. She shifted her weight and tried to see around the testosterone-wall, but John and Ronon shifted with her.

"There's nothing to see." Ronon said firmly.

She gave them both a sharp glare but neither man backed off. After a pause, Laura's voice drifted out from behind them.

"Okay. All done."

Staring down at Jen, Ronon angled his chin towards the far corner. "All right, back away."

"No…" Laura stepped up beside them. "I mean, I'm done."

John turned around and glanced at the still closed door. Then he raised an eyebrow and looked at the Lieutenant.

Laura made a face. "Oh ye' of little faith."

Jen shifted her weight from side to side. "Just hurry before I pee on the floor."

Laura turned towards the door. "Major, it's all yours."

Evan's voice came back through the com. "You heard the lady…"

Jen smirked at Laura. "He said _lady_…"

John and Ronon instinctively stepped in front of Jen when the metal of the door groaned. But there was no explosion, only a loud creaking as the door pulled away from the frame and crashed onto the floor in the hallway.

"Oh thank god…" Jen muttered.

Dropping the ropes they were holding, Evan, Jimmy, and several of the other marines stepped back when Jen hurried forward and walked across the flattened door.

"Major." She acknowledged and accepted Evan's outstretched hand as he helped her step down off the raised metal.

"Doc." Evan grinned when Jen dropped his hand, and hurried off down the hallway.

"Are you okay?" Rodney asked, stepping forward and falling into a hurried step beside her. "I almost had the access you know…just a few more minutes and we could have replaced—"

"I'm fine, Rodney." She assured him, and handed him the empty can of ginger-ale. "And yes, I know this wasn't your fault."

Rodney's glanced at the can with a curious frown as he followed her around the corner.

John glanced down at the fallen door then looked inquisitively at the Lieutenant. Tucking her supplies back into her rucksack, Laura stood and turned towards the men.

"What?" she raised an eyebrow, then followed the Colonel's gaze back to the door. She rolled her eyes. "Not everything is about the boom, you know. Explosives have come a long way since the days of tossing ACME dynamite, Bugs."

"Bugs?" Ronon repeated.

"Bunny." Laura added. "No need to make a big boom and have the baby here and now, right?"

"She has a point." Evan acknowledged.

John pouted. "But I like the boom."

"Well I tell you what," Laura grinned and walked out of the room, slinging her knapsack over her shoulder. "Next time you manage to lock a dozen recruits in an inaccessible room, I'll give you the boom. Now if you'll excuse me," she nodded and started off down the hallway. "my work here is done."

"Who's going to clean up this mess?" Evan called after her.

Laura snorted. "I'll leave that to you strong, burly men-folk. I might break a nail."

"Men-folk?" Evan eyed the swaying strawberry-blonde braid as it disappeared around the corridor.

John glanced at Ronon and with a mentally agreed cue, both men strode quickly after Laura.

"Hey!" Evan called after them.

"Sorry Major," John called over his shoulder. "Important things to do. I'm sure you can handle it."

Evan sighed and eyed the men standing behind him. "Well, you heard the Colonel. Let's get this mess cleaned up."

"Uh, Sir?" Porter asked, stepping forward. "Is it…always…like this around here?"

"Like what, Sergeant?" Evan fought the grin. "This? This is nothing." He glanced at his watch. "We've only had one Level 1 incident involving the CMO and it's almost 10am. Not bad. Not bad at all. Might actually turn out to be a slow day."


	20. Chapter 20 The Seventh Month

**The Seventh Month**

* * *

Jen took a deep breath and sighed with delight at the crisp scent of pine that filled her nostrils. With the bright sun cutting through the leafy branches, and the warm air hovering across her bare shoulders, Jen was feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time. Even the loping gate of her more pronounced waddle couldn't deter her from enjoying the summer afternoon.

Until she stumbled over a tree root.

Sanchez grabbed her with both arms and eased her back onto her feet, releasing her only once he was sure she wasn't going to fall over.

"You know, I'm _still_ not happy with you being here." Evan muttered, reaching for Jen's hand to guide her around a fallen log.

"Major," she chastised, unable to stop the short laugh from slipping out, "it's going to be fine!"

"The Colonel's rules were very specific." Evan's eyes narrowed as he looked sideways at her. "_No_ leaving the city."

Jen snorted. "And last time I checked, I was still the CMO."

"For now." Evan glanced down at her extended abdomen, earning him a pointed whack across the upper arm. "What?" He feigned innocence.

Jen gave him a shove. "I'm pregnant. Not dead."

"_We're_ going to be dead if the Colonel finds out about this…" Ellis muttered from behind her.

"_When_ the Colonel finds out about this." Sanchez added.

"When _Ronon_ finds out about this." Browne finished.

Jen glanced at the Marines walking in a circle around her. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

Sanchez gave her a wary glance, Ellis snorted, and Browne just shook his head sadly.

"You know if you want to go back," Jen pointed over her shoulder, "I'm sure Major Buchannan would still be willing to accompany me."

"Buchannan?" Ellis snorted.

"That pretty boy?" Browne glanced over his shoulder at Jen.

"What's wrong with Major Buchannan?" she asked.

Behind Jen, Ellis laughed. "He couldn't find his way out of a paper bag."

Sanchez snorted then shook his head slowly, looking down at Jen. "Please don't tell me the Buckster was your first choice?"

"The Buckster?" She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Really?"

Sanchez grinned.

"No," she laughed, "the _Buckster_ was not my first choice. But... he _was_ Woolsey's first choice. _You_ were supposed to be escorting the linguists to 322, remember? I suggested you might prefer he reconsider the assignments."

"Wise choice." Evan confirmed, then scowled. "I hope."

Sanchez glanced past Jen to the Major. "When's SGA1 back?"

"Tomorrow." Evan confirmed. "Oh-eight-hundred."

"Yay." Ellis muttered.

Sanchez glanced at him. "Plenty of time to plan your funeral."

"_Our_ funerals." Browne added.

"Oh would you all just relax." Jen rolled her eyes.

"No." Evan said sharply. "Don't relax. Pay attention. To everything."

The three Marine's nodded in agreement.

"These villagers are our allies." Jen reminded them.

Behind her, Ellis harrumphed.

"Carson has been here regularly." She tried again, glancing at Sanchez on her left. "He's had nothing but good things to say about these people."

"Carson likes everyone." Sanchez angled his head towards the forest beside them and adjusted his grip on his P90. "Except the Brits."

"Major, you were just here a couple of hours ago." Jen glanced to Evan on her right. "You said there was nothing out of the ordinary."

"This is Pegasus, Doc." Evan glanced warily around. "And you're the Bermuda Triangle."

"Gee, thanks." She frowned. "Look. We only have two doctors on staff qualified for this kind of mission. Their Priestess is in labour. It's not like we have time to wait for other options. And you know as well as I do, local religious laws prevent anyone but a woman from assisting with the birth."

"I think the question is why _you_ had to be that woman." Evan frowned, but Jen could see a hint of amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes.

"Because Dr. Mitchell isn't qualified," she said firmly.

"As a Doctor?" Sanchez asked.

"No," Jen laughed and turned towards him, "as a woman. Dr. _Anthony_ Mitchell?"

"Oh. Right." Sanchez nodded.

Jen rolled her eyes when Browne's hand suddenly jerked out behind him to stop her from walking forward. Almost immediately Evan had a hold of her right arm, and Sanchez her left.

"We're at the river." Brown stepped forward and hopped down the rocky drop.

The path dipped down a slight incline to a wide, shallow river bed, and the section immediately in front of them was a jagged edge where the dirt had tumbled down into the slow moving water. Evan hopped down the three foot drop and turned towards her, hooking his hands beneath her armpits.

"You know things would be much easier if I could see my feet," she muttered, placing her palms on Evan's shoulders while he lifted her off the ledge.

With a quick turn he set her down on the level ground beside him, then immediately gripped her upper arm to guide her to the bottom of the slope.

The narrow footbridge was rickety at best, creaking and groaning as Brown walked to the far side. Sanchez was second, then Jen, Evan, and Ellis last. Jen was pretty sure all four men held their breath while she crossed, which in itself was funny, and even funnier when she realized the water in the creek was only a few inches deep. Not exactly frothing white-water that could sweep her downstream like she'd been lead to believe.

The baby rolled and shuffled, flipping position and she grunted, rubbing her hands against the left side of her abdomen.

"You okay?" Evan's worry spun the others around to face her.

She nodded and smiled reassuringly at the four men. "Someone's enjoying the great outdoors a little too much." Smoothing the cloth of the Athosian dress she'd procured from Teyla's old maternity wardrobe, Jen grinned at her abdomen. The skin beneath the tightly pressed maroon cloth shifted and rolled, left to right and back again, then a sharp point appeared before the baby finally settled into the new position.

"Oh my god that's disgusting!" Browne exhaled, staring wide eyed at Jen's surging abdomen.

"Shit!" Ellis took a step back, then shook his head and took a step forward. "What the hell was that!"

"Gee, the baby?" Evan rolled his eyes.

"But…it…" Sanchez pointed, his face stretched in a pained grimace, "moved! I could _see_ it move! Is it supposed to do that?"

"Of course its supposed to do that." Evan sighed. "Have none of you ever seen a pregnant woman before?"

"That's like…the aliens in Alien!" Browne made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and stepped back. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"No." Jen laughed. "Well, okay yes, it's rather painful when there's a foot pushing into my ribs, or stomping on my bladder. Or the occasional jabbing poke to my spleen…" she joked, "but it doesn't always hurt."

Turning to the side she grabbed for Sanchez's hand, flattening his palm against her abdomen. She laughed when the baby rolled at the warm contact, and the Captain snatched his hand back.

"God, that's just freaky." Sanchez whispered, his gaze locked on Jen's abdomen.

Jen turned towards Ellis. The Lieutenant lifted his hand towards her stomach, but it froze in the air, his palm hovering an inch above the material covering her abdomen.

Evan rolled his eyes and grabbed Ellis' wrist, forcing the man's palm against Jen's stomach. "It's a baby. It's not going to bite you."

Ellis made a face but held his hand in place.

Jen shifted his hand to the left and lower. "Here." She smiled when the baby kicked out and Ellis jumped.

"Shit!" Ellis laughed, shifting his P90 to the side so he could place both hands against her stomach. "That is so cool!" He grinned and turned towards Browne. "Dude you gotta try this!"

Browne held up his hands, palms out. "No, no." He shook his head. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Does he…she…always move like that?" Ellis looked up at Jen, dropping his hands away and stepping back.

Jen nodded. "Especially when I'm outside, or walking. Well, waddling these days. Likes the exercise I guess."

Jen pulled Evan's hand against her abdomen. She glanced down at her stomach. "Say hi to Uncle Evan."

Evan tried to look stoic, but failed when the baby shifted beneath his hands.

Jen laughed at his silly grin. "Told you she recognizes you!"

"Thought you didn't know if it was a boy or girl?" Evan raised an eyebrow, planting both hands around her, cradling her abdomen with his palms.

"I don't." She shrugged. "It just seems easier to say _she_ than _it_. And _she_ knows its you."

"You do that enough to be recognized?" Ellis glanced at his CO. "Is that wise?"

"He's got a death wish." Browne nodded, eyeing Jen's abdomen with a mix of wariness and concern.

"Hey." Evan dropped his hands and turned towards Browne. "Babies in utero are a lot more aware of their surroundings than many people believe."

"Very good." Jen nodded approvingly.

"In _utero_?" Sanchez smirked. "Been reading National Geographic again?"

"Reading? Nah. He just looks at the pictures." Sanchez snorted and stepped quickly away when Evan scowled.

"You want to take a rest or anything?" Evan ignored the muffled snickers from his team and turned towards Jen. "We have another mile to the village."

"It's only a mile." Jen made a face.

"Yeah, but should you be walking that far?"

Jen made a face and ushered them all forward. They closed around her again, stepping slowly to match her more pronounced pace. "It's a mile, Major. A lot closer than the observation ramp on the east pier, and I do that every other day."

"You walk all the way to the east pier?" Sanchez glanced down at her.

"Every other day before my shift starts." She nodded.

"Alone?" Evan asked.

"Yes." She laughed. "It's only about twenty minutes. Why? What's wrong with the east pier? That section has the best view of the sunrise. And I'm not alone…" She glanced down at her stomach. "We have great conversations, don't we Peanut?"

"You shouldn't be out there by yourself." Sanchez scolded. "What if something happened?"

"Something like what?" She blinked up at him. "It's a fenced in deck in the middle of the city surrounded by a giant shield."

"And surrounded by an ocean!" Browne's tone was incredulous. "What if you fell in?"

"Well then it's a good thing I'm carrying my own personal flotation device." Jen rubbed her hands over her abdomen.

"That's not funny." Ellis said from behind her. "What time do go?"

"I'm not going to fall off the pier." Jen said firmly, ignoring their disbelieving glances.

"Every other day before her shift starts." Browne repeated her earlier words.

"Right." Ellis nodded.

Jen sighed at the certainty her morning walks were now going to be accompanied by at least one of her self-elected bodyguards.

Eventually, the forested path widened and the trees around them thinned out until they reached the edge of a clearing. Nestled against the far side of a wide meadow stood the stone walled buildings of the village. As they moved into the meadow, a mixed group gathered along the edge of the town. There were three men in brown robes, accompanied by four more carrying rifles. The welcoming committee hurried across the field to intercept their arrival.

"Now remember," Evan said under his breath. "These guys are very touchy when it comes to this Priestess of theirs. Stay quiet, and stay alert. Two men with the Doc at all times, no exceptions."

"She's having a baby." Jen frowned over Browne's shoulder as she tried to catch a glimpse of the approaching group. "I don't think it's necessary to be so dramatic."

Sanchez snorted and shifted his grip on his P90. "Uh-huh."

"Oh, come on." Jen glanced at him. "Really?"

Sanchez angled his chin at the villagers. "They're a little overprotective."

Jen gave the Captain an incredulous snort. "They are, are they."

He nodded.

"Hmm." She covered her smirk behind a cough.

The group of villagers was almost upon them. Evan stepped away from Jen's right side and was quickly replaced by Ellis.

"Stay here." Evan ordered.

"Major Lorne…" One of the robed men called out as he stopped in front of Evan. He wrung his hands against the folds of the robe as he stared anxiously at Jen, who was peering out from behind Browne's back. "You have brought your healer? Our mistress is very uncomfortable, and very anxious to have the comfort and skills of your healer."

Evan kept his eye on the four village men with the rifles who had flanked the monk and his two companions.

The older monk shook his head, following Evan's stare. "They are only precautions."

"Precautions?"

"The birth of the anointed one is a special time in our village." One of the other monks nodded furiously. "We are not taking any chances."

"Chances for what?" Evan looked directly at the younger man, who couldn't have been more than eighteen. Tops.

"Why, anything, of course." He blinked.

The first monk waved the other off. "Hush, child." Then he turned towards Evan. "Please, have your healer come forward. We are most anxious to take her to our Priestess."

Evan took a step back and glanced over his shoulder at his men. Ellis gave Jennifer a nod and she stepped out from behind them. It took no more than a sharp intake of air from the monks and the villagers for Evan to realize, with complete certainty, that somehow, for some reason known only to this god-forsaken universe known as Pegasus, the proverbial shit had just hit the fan.

The four village men leapt aside, weapons aimed directly at Jennifer.

The elder monk gasped and pointed at her.

The second monk wailed an anguished cry of _blasphemy_ and covered his eyes.

And the youngest monk fainted.


	21. Chapter 21

In a blur of navy Jen found herself surrounded by a solid wall of Kevlar.

A much better option than rifles.

Once her heart resumed it's semi-normal, but highly sped up slamming, she lifted herself up onto her toes. With Ellis pressed against her back, she peered over the joined shoulders of Sanchez and Browne.

The local men didn't seem to know which person to point their rifles at.

Her, or Evan.

With one hand fisted around the brown robe, Evan was holding one of the monks half off the ground. The older man was wobbling on the tips of his toes, his face pale and eyes wide as he tried to avoid the M9 the major was currently holding beneath the man's chin.

"Tell them to drop their weapons." Evan's voice was low and hard.

The monk's gaze moved to the group standing behind Evan – Sanchez and Browne both stood with their P90's aimed directly at the two groups of armed villagers. The villagers shifted nervously, their attention darting between the P90's and Evan and the monk.

Evan shoved his face closer to the monk's. "Now," he ordered. "Before this little misunderstanding gets out of hand."

The monk's head wobbled, as much of a nod as he could accomplish with Evan's Beretta stuck under his chin. "Yes, yes." He whimpered. "A misunderstanding. Of course. Of course. Please gentlemen. Lower your weapons."

The villagers, obviously smart enough to realize a bad idea when they saw one, quickly dropped their guns.

"Back off." Evan angled his chin and the villagers all stepped away from their weapons, which lay discarded in the long grass. Sanchez hurried to collect the rifles, tossing them behind him, well out of reach. He then retreated to his position in front of Jen.

Evan slowly lowered his M9, but did not release the monk. "Care to tell me what this is all about? I _thought_ we were here to help."

"Help…yes…." The older monk nodded furiously.

"You don't understand." The second monk said as he helped pull up the young man who'd fainted.

"Enlighten me." Evan released the older monk and stepped back, giving himself room to move if he needed it.

"It is an insult!" The second monk exclaimed, his gaze moving to Jen who peered out from behind Sanchez and Browne. "She can not be here."

"Hush, Toop." The older monk hissed, wary of Evan's reaction.

Evan took a step towards the monk called Toop. "What insult?"

The monk, oblivious to the danger of his conviction, nodded his head furiously. He released his hold on the young man he'd been assisting and pointed at Jen. "Our Priestess can not be exposed to such an atrocity."

"Atrocity?" Evan slowly turned his gaze to the eldest monk.

The older man cleared his throat. "The birth of the child the Priestess carries is an auspicious occasion." He said softly. "The child is destined to be our next religious leader. This time is very important to our people. And only—"

"Only a Priestess is allowed to be with child." The youngest monk finished.

"All others are seen as an abomination and the abomination must be exterminated." Toop added.

"Exterminate?" Jen's voice carried across the field. "Exterminate what?"

"No one is exterminating anything." Evan said firmly. "Are they?"

The older monk shook his head. "No, no."

Evan turned his head and spoke over his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the group in front of him. "Ellis, Sanchez, get her back to the gate."

"What? No! We can't just leave." Jen exclaimed. "What about the mother and child?"

"Doc…" Evan warned. "This is no time—"

"And just when _is_ a good time to have a baby?" Jen interrupted, trying unsuccessfully to push through the solid wall of Browne and Sanchez. "When you feel like it? Babies don't wait. The longer we stand around the more complications could arise." She turned her attention to the elder monk, and gave up trying to get out from behind the TAC vests. "If your Priestess is having difficulties, she needs help now…not later…or there could be further complications."

At her words, muttered arguments broke out amongst the gathered villagers, quoting rules and religious beliefs, each person trying to be louder than the previous shouted comment. Evan took a deep breath and held it, counting to five. Then he let out a sharp whistle, bringing the chattering to a standstill.

"I'm not leaving." Jen announced firmly, trying to zigzag around Browne, who had to shift quickly to keep her behind him.

"Doc…" Evan turned towards her. "This is not open for discussion."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him over Browne's shoulder. "I'm not running away over a simple misunderstanding."

"People pointing weapons at you is not a _simple_ misunderstanding." He countered. "And we can find someone else to help."

"Like who…" She angled her head.

Sanchez cleared his throat. "Major?"

Evan glanced at the captain.

Sanchez tipped his head, silently calling Evan over.

Evan backed up, keeping an eye on the villagers.

"I have an idea." Sanchez said, his voice loud enough for only their immediate group to hear.

"I'm listening." Evan glanced at him.

"I have a couple of questions for our man Poop, there."

"His name is Poop?" Browne raised an eyebrow.

"Who's name is Poop?" Jen whispered.

"Toop." Evan corrected with a hiss. "With a puh."

"Right." Sanchez nodded. "Poot. I mean Toop."

Evan made a sound somewhere between a snort and a groan. "Fine." He muttered. "But make it fast." He angled his chin at the villagers. "The natives are getting restless."

Sanchez nodded. "Roger that."

Evan stepped back, keeping himself between the others and Jen, who was now sandwiched between Browne and Ellis. He holstered his M9 and shifted his P90 to a more comfortable position, keeping an eye on the village men who were still standing behind the monks, still arguing with dramatic whispers.

As the captain strode purposely forward, the elder monk took a hurried step back, stopping only once he collided with the two other monks who were standing behind him.

Sanchez stopped in front of the trio and leaned slowly forward. "Only a Priestess can be with child?" He asked, watching the trio of heads nod in agreement. Then he lowered his voice so the village men behind them could not hear. "What makes you think our doctor isn't a Priestess?"

Toop snorted, then quickly masked his disbelief when Sanchez turned his cold gaze directly towards him. Toop cleared his throat. "Impossible."

Sanchez straightened, and glared purposely at the eldest monk. "Did he just insult my Priestess?"

"Toop!" The older monk hissed.

"Where are her handmaidens?" Toop snorted, turning toward the older monk. "A true Priestess would never travel without the dedication of her handmaidens."

"Dedication?" Sanchez smiled at him coldly. "Well, lets just say we do things a little _differently_ where we come from. Dedication." He shifted his weight, and adjusted his P90. "Protection. It's all relative."

The elder monk glanced at the men sequestered around Jennifer, then back to Sanchez. He hesitated, and with a blink, came to the smartest conclusion. "Please. You must understand. We have heard much about your great city. The city of the Ancients. And your medical doctor. But we have heard nothing about a…" he cleared his throat. "a…"

"Priestess?" Sanchez offered quietly.

The elder monk nodded.

"And do you let everyone know of the existence and location of _your_ Priestess?"

The monk blinked. "Well…no."

"And would you tell everyone if your Priestess was also a renowned healer? A doctor with access to the knowledge of the Ancestors?"

"No."

"Or let it be known that your Priestess was with child and unable to defend herself if something should happen?"

"No."

"Well neither do we." Sanchez angled his head, keeping his voice low and firm. "Your Priestess needs help, and your law states the doctor must be a woman. Correct?"

"Yes." The younger monk nodded, eager to please. "That is correct."

"Well, we brought you a doctor. A very _special_ doctor. Only our most esteemed allies are granted this level of trust and cooperation. But if you prefer not to accept our gift…we will take our leave…"

"Wait." The elder monk said quickly. "Please. We need to…discuss this…this…is highly unusual."

Sanchez blinked. "Decide quickly." He turned and headed back towards Evan.

"Did you just do what I think you just did?" Evan muttered under his breath.

"Yup." Sanchez acknowledged. "I figured it would be easier than shooting them. Or trying to drag Doc back to the gate."

"_We will take our leave_?" Evan mimicked the Captain's closing comment to the monks.

Sanchez shrugged. "First year drama."

"Drama _queen_ is more like it." Ellis muttered, dodging to the left when Jen tried to move around him.

"Excuse me?!" Jen glared at him.

"Oh. Uh…. No. Not you, Doc." Ellis quickly clarified.

"You'd better hope not." She pursed her lips.

Everyone watched the three monks cloistered a tight circle, their whispered argument punctuated with flailing arms and wary glances at Jen and her protectors. It was obvious almost immediately that Toop disagreed with whatever decision the elder and youngest monk were coming to.

"You honestly think this is going to work?" Evan whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Doubtful." Sanchez mumbled under his breath.

"Then why?"

"It was worth a shot."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"We have the firepower."

"We're _not_ shooting monks." Evan frowned.

"You wanna put money on that?" Sanchez asked hopefully.

"No."

"Evan?" Jen called.

Evan took two steps back.

"What is going on?" She whispered. "Why are they arguing?"

"It seems we've broken some law they have about anyone other than her Royal Highness being pregnant."

"What law?" She shook her head, watching the arguing monks. "Can't you just tell them we didn't mean it and move on? I thought they needed our help? Wait. What do you mean someone _other than her_ being pregnant?"

"They want our help. Just not the help of another pregnant woman." He clarified.

"This is all because I'm pregnant?" Jen frowned, her arms threading her arms tightly across her breasts. "Now look here! I'm still perfectly capable of performing my duties as a doctor. There's no reason—"

"When the Priestess is pregnant," Evan cut her off, "no other woman is allowed to be pregnant at the same time." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Except another Priestess. Apparently."

"I'm not leaving becau—"

"Sanchez just anointed you our Priestess."

Jen opened her mouth to comment then snapped it closed, frowned, and tried again. "He _what_?!"

Evan's answer was interrupted when the older monk let out a firm shush. With a dismissive wave of his hand, the elder monk stepped out of the circle and approached Evan and Sanchez. He was flanked by Toop, who looked very put-out, and the younger monk who was watching them all with a broad smile plastered across his face. He ignored the weapon wielding team and turned to address Jennifer.

"Dear Lady, we offer our deepest apologies." He gave Jen a deep, flowing bow. "If you would be so kind as to allow us to begin again? I am Nort. This is Toop, my second. And Abra, our apprentice. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to our humble village." He straightened and clasped his hands in front of his torso, eyeing Jen with a new wariness. "We apologize for the misunderstanding, my lady. We did not realize the Lanteans also sought enlightenment from the higher power. You will please forgive our ignorance. Our Priestess is in desperate need of your counsel."

Jen glanced at Evan, who angled his head expectantly. When she nodded, the elder monk clasped his hands together and exhaled. "Thank you. Now please, if you would care to accompany us…?" He scurried forward, ushering the villagers in front.

Browne held his arm out, his elbow crooked. "Milady?" He said saucily.

Jen rolled her eyes and glared at Sanchez. "I'm going to regret this aren't I."

"You and me both." Evan muttered from behind her.


	22. Chapter 22

* * *

"This is ridiculous." Ellis frowned at his bare toes sticking out from beneath the hem of his BDU's. "What could they possibly have against shoes?"

"And socks?" Browne scowled, stuffing his socks into the bottom of his boots and dropping them into the outstretched hands of the youngest monk, Abra.

Abra turned and set the boots neatly on the floor next to the other three pairs. "Our Priestess believes in cleanliness of mind, body and spirit."

"And floor…" Sanchez muttered.

Evan hid his snort behind a cough and sank to his knees in front of Jen, reaching down to untie her laces.

"Thank god…" Jen muttered when Evan pulled off her right boot. She placed her hand on his shoulder to steady herself while he unthreaded her sock. Setting her bare foot onto the cool tile of the floor she let out a happy sigh.

"You see?" Abra smiled happily at her, lifting the hem of his robe to show off his bare feet. "Your priestess smiles! Such pleasure is worth any minor discomfort, certainly."

"Oh it's worth it all right…" Jen raised an eyebrow in warning to Sanchez, who'd opened his mouth to retort.

Evan straightened and handed Abra Jen's shoes and socks.

Jen pointed her finger at Sanchez who tried again to speak once the monk turned his back. "I have enough fluid in my ankles to float the Nimitz," she warned, "and wearing those boots is like trying to cram my feet into a pair of Barbie slippers. So zip it."

"But…" Sanchez began, giving her a puppy-dog pout.

"Zip." Jen pointed, then turned towards Abra. "Can I see her now?"

The young monk nodded exuberantly. "Yes, yes of course! Right this way." He swept his arms wide and gave Jen a flourishing bow. "If the great Lady would please be so kind as to follow, I shall take you to the chambers of the Royal Priestess."

Jen sighed and rolled her eyes. She glanced at Evan who was fighting desperately to hide his smile.

Evan flung his arm wide copied Abra's dramatic bow as best he could with the added restriction of a TAC vest and weapons. "My Lady…" he cooed.

"Don't you start…" Jen stepped forward.

"What?" He fell into step beside her, following Abra down the wide, stone walled hallway.

"I _will_ kill you." Jen raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure on this planet it's completely legal, too."

"Oh but of course!" Abra nodded and glanced at her over his shoulder, then pointed to the four armed men who waited at the head of the hallway - the Priestess's personal guards. "Merely say the word, great Lady," Abra said with a nod and a smile, "and the Royal Guards will swiftly dispose of anyone who should displease you."

"Ha." Jen glanced saucily at the four Lanteans surrounding her. "Did you catch that? He said _anyone_ who should displease me."

Sanchez clasped his hand over his heart and did his best to look wounded. "Milady, you wound me."

"She'll wound you all right." Evan snorted. "If Ronon doesn't get you first."

* * *

"So what's the deal, Doc?" Evan moved away from his sentry position in the hallway outside the chambers of the Priestess. Eying the four armed guards who followed him warily, he moved to intercept Jen as she walked towards him.

"In layman's terms?" She rolled her shoulders and let out a tired sigh. "Labour. We're going to be a while."

"How long is a while?"

She smiled. "Sorry, Major. Baby's don't come with alarm clocks."

Evan smirked. "You know with all that modern technology, you'd think we'd have figured a way around that by now."

"We have." She smiled back. "It's called a scheduled c-section."

Evan blinked, his smile gone. "You're not going to…"

"No!" She exclaimed. "Of course not. Well…I mean…not at the moment…no?"

"Is that an answer, or a question?"

"I hope it's an answer," she said around a yawn.

"Good." He narrowed his eyes. "Is she okay for a while?"

Jen nodded. "Yeah. I think the three handmaidens, two midwifes, her mother, grandmother, and two sisters have it pretty much under control."

"And they needed you because…?"

She shook her head and muffled another yawn.

"You need to get some rest." Evan said firmly.

Jen snorted. "No kidding?"

"Come on." He angled his chin to where Ellis and Sanchez were watching them from down the hall. "They've prepared a room for her ladyship."

Jen snorted and walked slowly beside him. "You guys are never going to let me forget this, are you."

"Oh hell no." He grinned as they approached their assigned room. "This is better than anything Zelenka could have ever come up with."

"What _was_ today's list, anyway?"

Evan held up his hand and counted on his fingers. "Torrential downpour or flooding. Malfunctioning DHD. Quintuplets…um…"

"Religious ceremony, wasn't it?" Ellis finished when they stopped in front of him.

"Those sound a little tame." Jen stepped past the trio and into the large room. "They've gotten awfully lame lately. No psycho villagers. Environmental disasters. What about the standard Wraith attack?"

"God, no." Browne exclaimed, straightening from his position next to the floor to ceiling windows to give her a worried frown.

"What?" She glanced at him as she made a beeline for the bed against the far wall.

"Geeze, Doc." Ellis made a face. "It's just for fun."

"I know that." She smiled, and slowly lowered herself onto the side of the large mattress. "I'm just saying that maybe Zelenka needs to get someone to help him come up with ideas. They're getting awfully mild lately. There's nothing good to choose from."

"Good?!" Sanchez exclaimed.

"What?" Jen frowned at the unusually green expressions. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The four men echoed.

Jen scowled. "You lie like shit."

Ellis, Sanchez and Browne all glanced at Evan.

The major shifted his weight. "You should get some rest."

"Uh-uh." Jen scowled. "Out with whatever it is you're not saying."

Evan sighed. "Zelenka's bets are fun, Doc. But…it's just that…" He glanced at the others, as though seeking help.

Sanchez shook his head. "We just…don't want to make any…"

"_Real_ bets." Ellis finished, raising one shoulder then dropping it quickly. "You know, just in case…"

Jen started to smile, realization of what they were saying creeping through her tired mind. "Ah." She nodded. "If you say it out loud…"

"It might come true." Evan finished. "Torrential downpours we can handle."

"Or a broken DHD." Browne added.

"Anything else…" Sanchez glanced at her abdomen before lifting his gaze back to her face. "Is not an option."

Hooking the coverlet up over her legs, Jen shook her head in amusement and settled down on to the bed. Suppressing a giggle behind her hand, she burrowed into the pillow.

"What's so funny?" Evan asked.

"For a bunch of bad-asses," she laughed around a yawn, "you guys are awfully cuddly."

Evan's retort was cut off by a loud gasp from the hallway. The trio of monks were standing in the doorway, staring into the room in wide-eyed horror. Jen sat up as quickly as her size and condition would allow then had to tilt herself sideways to see around the wall of navy that suddenly blocked her view.

"What?" She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. "What's wrong?"

"They…" Abra sputtered. "They can't…you can't…there's a bed in there!"

"Can't what?" Evan eyed the monks warily. He glanced over his shoulder at Jen, who was blocked in behind Sanchez, Ellis and Browne. "What's wrong with the bed?"

"It's… it's…it's a bed!" Abra stared at him wide-eyed, as though Evan should understand the meaning of the stuttered statement. "A bed! In there. With you."

"Yes." Evan drew the word out. "And?"

"And you should know you can not be in there." Toop answered with a scowl, his voice sharp. "Men are not allowed to remain unescorted in the private rooms with the Priestess!" He narrowed his eyes at Evan's team. "Not unless they are her personal consorts…" he added suggestively.

"What _exactly_ are you implying…" Evan took a slow, deliberate step forward, his hands shifting to his P90.

Ellis frowned. "Consort?"

"Bed buddy." Jen said from behind his back.

"What?" Ellis blinked. "No! Did you just…Did he just suggest…"

"Perhaps it is different with their people." Nort interrupted, eyeing Evan's scowl. He placed his hand firmly on Toop's shoulder and pulled the other monk out of the middle of the doorway. "We will be going…" he nodded quickly at Evan and backed out into the hallway. "We simply came to see that your quarters were sufficient. Comfortable. To your Lady's liking. If you should need anything…anything at all? Food…drink…"

"We'll be sure and call." Evan nodded, watching the retreating trio move down the hallway. Then he turned back into the room and kicked the door closed.

"You know…" Jen said with a shrug. "Food _would_ be good."

Evan's shoulders dropped and he shook his head with a laugh. "I thought you were tired?"

"I am." She sat back down on the edge of the bed. "But I'm also hungry."

"Didn't you just eat a few minutes ago?" Ellis glanced down at her.

"Your point?" She raised an eyebrow.

Evan angled his head towards the closed door. "Go." He looked from Ellis to Browne. "Her Ladyship is hungry."

Browne gave Jen a dramatic bow. "Anything for her Ladyship." He ducked her swing and out into the hallway behind Ellis.

"And make it snappy!" she called after them, "or I'll see you hanged for your insolence!"

"Hanged for your insolence?" Evan grinned at her.

She shrugged and settled back against the pillows. "It's about time I got the respect I deserved."

Evan picked up one of the pillows and arched it over his shoulder. "Oh I'll give you some respect…"

"Hmm." Jen blinked up at him from her curled up position on the bed, then she snuggled further into the bedding and closed her eyes.

"No sense of self preservation." Evan snorted and set the pillow down behind her. He reached for the blanket she'd pushed aside and pulled it over her.

"I don't need self preservation." Jen mumbled around a yawn and burrowed into the blanket. "That's what you're for."

"Well, I guess that pretty much sums up my entire career." Evan glanced over at Sanchez, who was fighting a laugh.

"Self preservation?" Sanchez grinned.

Evan shrugged. "At least I know where I stand in the greater scheme of things."

"Shh." Jen mumbled. "Priestess is napping."

* * *

"Hey." Evan angled his chin and stepped forward when Jen walked out of the Priestess' quarters. "How goes it?"

"Slowly." She shrugged. "But good. Everything's fine. Shouldn't be too much longer now."

"You okay?" Evan dropped his chin and studied her.

She nodded. "I'm good. But I have to pee. Again."

He grinned. "Come on. I think I remember the way after the last four times."

She smacked him across the shoulder. "Smart ass."

"You want your shoes?" Ellis pointed to their neatly structured row of shoes along the far wall as he fell into step beside her.

Jen shook her head. "I'd never get them on. My feet are too swollen now."

Both Evan and Ellis looked down at her bare feet.

"Wow… that looks…uncomfortable." Ellis glanced at her worriedly.

"Gee, thanks."

"You should be resting." Evan chastised. "Not playing nursemaid."

Jen raised an eyebrow and glanced over at him. "My feet will be just fine. I just need to—"

"Sit?" Evan interrupted.

"Rest?" Ellis suggested.

"_Not_ be standing?" Sanchez added, falling into position behind them.

Jen pointed her finger at Browne. "Don't even…"

He snapped his mouth closed and grinned.

When they rounded the corner of the hallway, they noticed the three monks clustered together arguing in harsh, whispered tones. As soon as they were spotted, the three robed men straightened quickly and rushed towards her.

Sanchez and Ellis shifted closer to Jen, and Evan moved strategically to intercept the rushing monks.

"My Lady." Nort, the elder monk stared over Evan's shoulder at Jen. "Is everything okay? Our Priestess? Is it time?"

Jen shook her head. "Everything is just fine, Nort. The baby is not ready to come out quite yet. I just need to use the facilities again."

"Ah." He exhaled, relieved. "But of course." He glanced at the younger monk. "Abra… please see that our Lady is shown to the rooms as quickly as possible."

Abra nodded happily and stepped forward, but Evan held up his hand. "We've got it."

Abra blinked at Evan, his smile faltering. He glanced over his shoulder to Abra and Toop, then turned worriedly back to Jen.

Not wanting the young man to get into any kind of trouble, Jen tapped Evan lightly on the arm. "It's okay, Major. He can... lead the way?"

Evan let out a resigned sigh when Abra smiled hopefully.

"Fine."

Abra clasped his hands together and nodded furiously. "This way, please, my Lady." Then he straightened and hurried down the hallway.

Jen nodded to Toop and Nort as she plodded after Abra, who'd already scurried to the end of the corridor.

"I have a bad feeling about that guy." Sanchez muttered under his breath, as soon as they were out of earshot of the remaining monks.

Evan nodded his agreement. He hadn't missed the angry scowl Toop tried to hide when the monk had first seen Jen. "Don't let her out of your site. No matter what."

"You think he's gonna try something?"

"No." Evan frowned. "I don't think. I _know_."


	23. Chapter 23

Standing with the cool brick of the stone wall against his back, Evan eyed the half-dozen palace guards who were also in the hallway. The six armed men were splitting their attention between the Major and his team, and the closed door of the Priestess's quarters.

It had been almost an hour since the Doc had gone inside. Evan didn't like that the door was closed—but he had to allow for the fact that he, and just about everyone within a two mile radius, could hear _exactly_ what was going on inside the room.

"You'd think a religious leader wouldn't be allowed to swear like that…" Ellis whispered, shifting his position against the wall.

"I'm pretty sure she isn't thinking about religion right now…" Sanchez winced at a particularly nasty screamed curse.

"Actually this is pretty tame." Evan glanced at the Captain. "My sister was loud enough to be heard two corridors over. Everyone on the third floor of St. Joes was given a very descriptive play-by-play of what she was planning to do to her husband if he ever tried to get her pregnant again."

"Speaking of…" Sanchez glanced up and down the corridor. "Where is Daddy-dearest, anyway? Shouldn't he be here?"

Ellis angled his head towards the palace guards. "I'm sure it's against the rules."

On the far side of the guards, a flurry of brown cloth swirled around the corner, bringing the three monks at a face paced speed walk. The guards all snapped to attention as the trio hurried past, and stopped in front of Evan.

Abra was carrying a large, two handled bassinet, which was filled almost to the brim with an assortment of colored flower petals. The young man's face paled when a loud, anguished scream escaped from behind the door. "Oh dear… is that…?"

"As far as we know, everything's fine." Evan nodded.

Toop gave Evan a scowl, but remained silent.

"It is almost time." Nort said, clasping Abra on the shoulder.

"Time for what?" Evan asked, the forced calm of his voice covering the slow ball of tension knotting his stomach.

"The Confirmation." Abra whispered, his eyes wide. He winced at the loud, guttural screams which were now sounding back to back from inside the room.

"Confirmation?" Evan turned towards him.

Abra opened his mouth, then glanced at Nort for permission. Nort nodded, and the young monk turned back to Evan, exhaling the explanation in one long breath. "Once the child is born," he recited, "and the spirit confirmed as purity and truth, the babe will be circled to the sky in honor of the Ancestors, then placed in a cradle of flowers and crowned to the village where he, or she, will be accepted as the future leader of our people."

"Oh." Evan blinked. "All right then."

All eyes turned towards the door when it was pulled open, letting the screaming sounds of the Priestess out. A curse that would make a Marine blush echoed down the corridor, followed by a low screaming cry. They could barely hear Jen's calming assurances over the yelling. An older woman stuck her head out, her weathered face set in a scowl. She glared at the trio of monks. "It's comes."

Nort led the way as the three men hurried into the room.

"Not you!" The woman glared at Evan, then slammed the door closed.

"Lovely woman." Evan winced.

"I thought she seemed kinda sweet." Sanchez snorted.

"Reminds me of my Great Aunt Doris." Browne shuddered and waggled his fingers in the air at Sanchez. "The woman could give the Pope the evil eye."

"Is that were you get your sunny disposition?" Ellis grinned at Browne.

Browne waggled his fingers at Ellis. "Evil eye!"

"Hey…" Sanchez interrupted. "It's quiet…"

The four men held their breath. Sure enough, the cursing, screaming wails that had been consistent for almost an hour, were now silent.

The guards down the hallway straightened and took several steps closer.

Evan shifted his weight, not liking the complete silence. He could see the closed apprehension reflected in the faces of the palace guard, and felt his body tensing in response.

Sanchez shifted beside him, the Captain's eyes moving from the closed door, to the guards, then back to the door again. "Shouldn't there be—"

His question was cut off as the high, chirruping cry of a tiny baby reached their ears.

A collective sigh went out from the ten men standing in the hallway as the baby's wails continued. The palace guards let out whoops of joy, congratulating each other with hearty pats on the shoulders.

"Well all right then." Browne smiled. "I guess our work here is done."

The Lieutenant's thought was cut off by a single word. A word the four men heard both through the closed door, and in their com's. A word that jolted through each one like a bolt of raw electricity.

"_Evan_!"

Without hesitation, Evan opened the door with his booted heel. Snapping the scene into his mind like a photograph, he took in all the details in an instant.

On the far side of the bed, Jen was being manhandled by Toop and Nort, the monks each holding one of her arms while she struggled to reach the crotchety old woman, who was holding the swaddled infant high above her head. On the bed, a young woman in obvious distress, held her arms out towards the baby, crying softly, begging to have her child back. Two other young women, also in tears huddled against the headboard. A middle-aged woman was sitting on the floor, cradling Abra's head in her lap, the young monk lying unconscious on the floor surrounded by a confetti pile of flower petals. Sanchez stepped up beside Evan, and Ellis and Browne blocked the doorway at their back, holding palace guards to a standoff.

"Everyone STOP!" Evan shouted.

Silence fell as all eyes jerked towards him. Then the baby's cry began anew and everyone started yelling at once.

"Enough!" He shouted again. "What the hell is going on!?"

"The child is contaminated!" Toop hissed. "_She_…" he scowled at Jen, "birthed a contaminated child!"

"She is not _contaminated_!" Jen exclaimed, her eyes on the child which was dangling in the air above the old woman's head. "Put her down, please!"

"The child is an abomination!" The woman croaked, stepping backwards. "Abomination!"

"Nanie, please…" The young woman on the bed pleaded. "I want my baby." She looked to the woman on the floor with Abra. "Momma help me!"

Her mother simply shook her head, her own tears silently falling.

"By the will of the people this abomination will be terminated!" The elder woman cackled, holding the tiny infant higher.

"No!" The young mother on the bed screamed and tried to move, but was held down by the wailing handmaidens.

"Get the baby." Evan ordered Sanchez.

The Captain leaped forward, jumping at the old woman, who spun away and rushed towards the open doors of the balcony on the far side of the room. He grabbed for her, clamping his hand down on to her shoulder. She cursed him and spun around, letting go of the baby. A collective gasp went up, and the young mother screamed in horror. Sanchez dove forward, his arms outstretched to catch the infant, twisting as he fell to land on his back, the tiny, wailing baby girl cradled against his stomach.

The relief was short lived as the crazy old woman screeched in frustration and dove at him, her fingers clawing for the baby. Evan rushed forward as Sanchez rolled onto his side, turtling himself around the infant. Reaching the older woman, Evan grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her backwards, holding her firmly while she cursed him in her weak attempt to get away.

Sanchez rose and cradled the child against his vest, eyeing the elder woman with disgust. Turning towards the bed, he held the swaddled infant out to his mother. The young woman renewed her tears as pulled the baby to her chest. Her two handmaidens moved closer, sighing and cooing over the tiny little girl. Then the captain straightened and uttered three words that would give Evan nightmares for a month.

"Where's the Doc?"

Evan's head spun so quickly he damn near gave himself whiplash.

The spot where Jen had been standing, mere seconds before, was empty.

She was gone.

And so were the two monks.

"Fuck!" He spun towards the door where Browne and Ellis were still blocking the palace guards from entering the room. The only other visible exit was the balcony, and she hadn't gone that way.

"Major?" Ellis called over his shoulder, his P90 trained on the men in the hallway.

"Hold them there." Evan ordered. "No one moves and no one leaves!"

The old woman chortled and Evan gave her a shove, spinning her around to face him. He gripped her upper arm firmly, giving her a rough shake. "Where is she!?" The old woman just shook her head and laughed. Evan shoved her away in disgust. He turned towards the scattered flower petals when Abra let out a moan and blinked his eyes open. With a single stride Evan was at his side. He reached down and fisted his hand in the material of the young monk's robe and yanked him to his feet.

Abra let out a squeak of shock and stared wide eyed at Evan.

"Where'd they take her?" Evan gave the young man a shake.

"Take who?" Abra croaked, unable to hide his confusion.

"Nort and Toop took the Doc." Evan lifted Abra higher. "They didn't leave through the door." He dragged the monk towards where Jen and the others had been standing. "She was here…now she's not." He released Abra with a shove towards the wall and the young man stumbled forward. "Show me the exit, and show me now." Evan growled. "Or I swear you will _not_ live to regret it."

* * *

Jen stumbled over the uneven ground of the dark passageway, and was quickly righted by Toop. He pulled her forward, his fingers digging into her wrist. With her hands bound by a rough strip of cloth, she had no way of reaching her com to alert Evan or the others of her location.

"You're making a big mistake," she chanced a warning as the monk pulled her down the tunnel. Her heart beat a scattered pattern behind her ribcage and she struggled to put a semblance of calm into her warbling voice.

"Quiet," Toop hissed.

"My people will be coming after me," she continued as he pulled her down a long dropping staircase.

"_Your people,_" Toop scowled, "are heathens. And _you_…are not a Priestess."

"Where you are taking me?" she tried again when they reached the bottom of the stairs and he pulled her into a side passage. The darkness was broken only by the distant spacing of torches.

"You will find out soon enough," he said cryptically.

The narrow, roughly hewn walls scratched at her shoulders, and she stumbled to a stop when her jacket caught. The material at her shoulder tore away when Toop tugged her forward.

She thought of poor, unsuspecting Nort, who Toop had knocked unconscious just inside the secret passageway. The poor elder monk had crumpled to the floor, blood oozing from the gash behind his ear. "At least let me go back and help—"

"You will help no one."

"Please, I—"

Jen let out a shriek when Toop spun to face her, his hand raised to strike. She squeezed her eyes shut and flinched, waiting for the pain, but it never came. She cracked one eye open.

"Be…quiet," he threatened, his hand hovering inches from her cheekbone.

She swallowed hard and nodded.

He dropped his hand to her bound wrists and tugged her around another corridor, twisting and turning, dropper deeper into the earth until she had no idea which direction she was going in, or how far below ground they were. The walls grew damper as they moved, the smell of moisture and earth tickling her nose. After several minutes he stopped dead in front of a wall which blocked their path.

Toop stuck his hand into a hole between the bricks to his right.

Jen heard a sharp click as he extracted his hand and the wall in front of him swung inward.

Directly in front of her stretched a wide room, sliced in half by a wall of metal bars. Torches hung in metal grips on the wall, casting an eerie glow across the dampness of the brick. Behind the bars stood two men, both dressed like local villagers. They eyed her with wariness, before shifting their gaze to Toop. Out of the shadows, four armed men stepped forward, dressed like palace guards.

"Put her in with the others." Toop ordered.

One of the guards produced a key and moved to unlock the door of the cell. Another raised his rifle and ordered the two prisoners back. Once the door was unlocked Jen was ushered into the cage. Behind her, the metal bars slammed shut with a resounding clang.

Toop gave her a manical smile. "Enjoy your _stay_, Priestess." With a laugh he disappeared through a wooden doorway against the far wall. He was followed by the four guards, the last of whom pulled the door shut behind him.

Silence descended as Jen turned slowly towards the two men interred with her. They were both big and beefy, their expressions hard as they stared her down.

She shivered and clutched her hands over her abdomen.

_Okay Peanut, if we get out of this I swear I'm never leaving the city without your Daddy and that big ass blaster again._

_Ever._


	24. Chapter 24

Jen stared at the two men in front of her, her tied hands automatically spreading out to cover her abdomen. As they stepped closer, the torchlight revealed young features on both men. Despite their burly size she could see an uncertainty reflected behind the forced roughness they tried to project. She almost smiled to recognize the familiarity.

"He called her _Priestess_." One of the young men growled, his eyes on her stomach, and her bound wrists.

Jen blinked, unsure of how to answer.

"It does not matter." The other snapped at him and strode towards Jen, his hand outstretched.

She tried to hold her ground, but couldn't stop herself from taking a jerking step back. A tiny squeak escaped when she bumped into the bars of the cell.

The man stopped, surprise evident in his eyes. "I will not harm you, Lady." He pointed to her hands. "I merely wished to untie you."

Jen stood frozen while the man waited. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hands and he quickly released them, dropping the cloth to the floor by her feet. He stepped away as soon as she was freed.

Jen rubbed the feeling back into her wrists, watching the two men warily.

"I am Mathias." The man who'd freed her hands tapped his chest. Then he pointed to his companion. "This is Terron."

The second man nodded.

"Jennifer." She exhaled.

"Normally I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, Jennifer…" Mathias angled his head. "But not in this circumstance."

"You should sit." Terron pointed to a long wooden bench that angled along the far wall. His gaze dropped to her bare feet. "The floor is too cold, and your feet are bare."

Jen hesitated before moving towards the bench, giving both men a wide berth. They seemed to understand her nervousness and kept their distance while she sat.

As soon as she was off them, her legs and ankles tingled their displeasure at the cold temperature, the long walk through the tunnels, and too many hours standing. She let out a long sigh and moved her hair to the side, brushing her fingers over her com to activate it, then she dropped her hand, letting her hair fall back around the earpiece. She hoped the shadows would be enough to hide the radio. Until she understood just who the two men were, she wasn't going to take any chances.

"Where are we?" She finally asked, praying it would be Evan or one of his team members who answered. But her com was silent.

"In the cells beneath the village." Terron answered.

"What…" she swallowed, staring up at the ceiling, cursing the rock. She must be too far below the city, or the rock held metallic components that blocked her signal. She swallowed and turned her attention to the two men.

"We are not criminals." Mathias snorted in disgust. "In case that is what you were thinking."

Jen didn't bother to tell him that was _exactly_ what she was thinking. She simply held her tongue and waited.

Terron shifted his weight. "We are the consorts of our Priestess."

Jen blinked in surprise, her gaze moving between the two men. "Wait. You mean, you…" she hesitated. "Both? The baby?"

Terron glanced at Mathias, who shrugged. "One of us is the father. We do not know who."

"You don't…" Jen raised an eyebrow.

"The Priestess may not be tied to just one." Terron explained. "It prevents any single man from laying claim to the child. Only the healthiest and strongest can be chosen. It is quite an honor."

"Was." Mathias scowled at the wall of bars. "It _was_ an honor."

Jen nodded slowly, then shook her head with confusion. She pursed her lip. "Then why are you here? Why are you not..." she pointed at the ceiling. "Up there…with…her?"

"Toop." Mathias sneered, threading his arms across his chest.

"I take it this…treatment….is not…normal?" she ventured.

Terron mirrored Mathias position, crossing his arms. "It is not."

"Toop wishes to claim the leadership of our people for himself." Mathias shook his head, his frustration seeping out as he began to pace a narrow strip back and forth in front of the bars.

"He can do that?" Jen glanced from Mathias to Terron.

Terron nodded. "If anything should happen to the baby…an illness, a problem with the birth, any reason for the babe to be deemed unclean, our laws place the leadership and hope of our entire village in the hands of the advisors."

"Toop." Jen nodded.

"Toop." Both men repeated.

She let out a long sigh of understanding at Toop's sudden declaration upon seeing the newborn that the tiny infant was contaminated in some way. And it also explained the request for an outside doctor. Having a scapegoat would make his leap in position a lot easier. It gave him someone else to blame. In this case – her. "Well," she pursed her lips. "That certainly explains things."

"How is it you have come to be here?" Mathias asked, stopping his pacing to turn towards her.

"Wrong place wrong time, I guess."

"You are a Priestess?" Terron asked her.

"I'm a Doctor. I just came to help." She rolled her eyes at her current surroundings. "Although with what you've just told me, I think my being at the delivery gave Toop what he needed to take over leadership of your village."

"Delivery?" Mathias stepped forward. "The birth?"

Jen gave him a quick smile. "A beautiful baby girl."

Both men grinned.

"And our Lady?" Terron looked at her hopefully.

"She is just fine. Both her and the baby are fine. Well…" she hesitated, "at least they _were_ fine before…" She sighed, then shook her head quickly. "Don't worry. My people are looking for me right now and they are not going to let Toop get away with this."

"He's already gotten away with it." Terron looked hopelessly at the walls surrounding them. He sat down on the bench a few feet from Jen. "We were not present at the birth."

"I don't think you had a choice." Jen leaned over and patted him on the arm.

"It does not matter." Mathias said. "We were not there. By our laws it is enough. All Toop needs to do is remove the child, and his plan is complete."

"The baby is safe." Jen said with more conviction than she felt.

"And you are sure of this, how?" Terron turned towards her.

"I know my people." She answered firmly. "You'll have to trust me when I say Toop is going to feel a world of hurt when they're done with him."

* * *

"Here." Ellis angled his chin down the left corridor, the light attached to his P90 illuminating the ground. "They went this way."

Evan and Sanchez moved out of the connecting corridor to join the Lieutenant. Evan squatted, his fingers brushing over the small footprint clearly visible in the dust. "Doc." He muttered, glancing down the darkened corridor. He tried to contact her on the com but heard nothing but silence.

Sanchez glanced down at the scanner in his hand. "There must be something in these rocks," he scowled at the blank screen. "I'm getting nothing."

"Keep going." Evan ordered, straightening up.

"We're ten minutes overdue." Browne announced. "They'll be scrambling the teams."

"Good." Evan replied, glancing at the rocky ceiling above their heads. "That means we've got about fifteen minutes to find her before all hell breaks loose up there."

"You think the Colonel's team is back?" Sanchez asked, pausing at another intersection to scan the dirt.

"Yup." Evan pointed to the ground in the right corridor, and Jennifer's bare footprint. "Thirty minutes ago."

"Shit." Sanchez exhaled.

"Like I said…" Evan glanced at the Captain. "All hell is going to break loose."

"I take it Hell in this scenario is a big burly that carries a nasty attitude and a gun that blows big holes in stuff?" Browne asked.

Evan took a deep, calming breath, and moved forward. "Take a pissed off Ronon and multiply it with the knowledge that his wife and unborn child are in danger…and he wasn't here to stop it."

Silence.

"Hell." Ellis exhaled.

Sanchez nodded. "We'd better find the Doc before they get here, or someone's going to die."

"Oh someone's going to die all right…" Evan announced, his mind picturing the pain he was going to inflict on Toop once he found them. "And when we find him? That someone is all mine."

* * *

"What will your people do once they find out about Toop's plan?" Jen asked, pushing herself to her feet.

"_If_…" Mathias said with a scowl as he bent to stare at the metal lock in the dell door. "If they find out. _If_ we can prove he prevented us from attending the birth, and _if_ we can prove the child is pure..." Mathias straightened and gave the door a frustrated shake, rattling the metal lock. He slammed his fist against the caged walls in frustration.

"I'm sure once your people realize what he's done…" Jen trailed off when both men shook their heads.

"It is _our_ actions that are in question. Not his." Terron said matter-of-factly. "It would be our word against his, and he has the power of his position against us. We are consorts. He is the advisor to the Priestess. And we have no proof he has done anything wrong."

"Wrong? He's holding us captive!" Jen exclaimed, moving to stand next to the two men at the bars.

"No one _knows_ he's holding us captive." Terron glanced at her. "Toop will not allow us a chance to speak to anyone before our execution."

"Execution!?" Jen gaped at the two men.

Mathias turned to face her. "Missing the birth is punishable by death."

"Without a chance to tell your side of the st—"

"Toop will not wait." Terron cut her off. "We will be executed upon his return, and the villagers will no nothing other than our disrespect."

"We need to get out of here." Mathias growled, turning to shake the bars of the door. "Now."

"If we get out of here, how are we going to get past the guards? I have no way of contacting my people to tell them where we are." Jen shook her head and glared up at the rocky ceiling. "There's only three of us and we have no weapons."

"The men with Toop are hired mercenaries, not palace guards. If we can get to the real guards, perhaps…" Mathias shrugged then glanced at her. "And there is no _we_."

Jen harumphed and bent her head back to stare up at the much taller man. "You been taking lessons from my husband?"

Mathias glared at her.

"Fine." Jen put her hands on her hips and glared back. "You want out of here or not?"

Mathias raised an eyebrow.

"Move." She ordered, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Mathias…" Terron yanked his friend's arm, when Mathias didn't move.

Mathias let out a snort of disgust but stepped aside. "And what is she going to do?"

"_She_ is going to get our asses out of here." With one hand braced on the bars, she bent and reached up under the hem of the floor length skirt. "Mercenaries," she mumbled under her breath. "Kidnapping, traitorous monks, and wild-west jail cells. I'm so going to kick Zelenka's ass for this…"

Fumbling with the leather straps around her upper calf, she exclaimed a soft cry of victory as she removed a long, thin blade. Glancing at Terron and Methias, Jen laughed to see their incredulous expressions and bent towards the lock.

* * *

"It is time." Toop announced with a flourish as he swung the wooden door inwards. He stopped so suddenly the four men behind him crashed together. The door to the cell stood open, the prisoners gone. Nothing remained save for the female's jacket. He snatched it up off the bench and stared at it in disgust.

"Find them!" he snarled, spinning around to face the disguised solders. "Kill them both."

"The woman?" One of the mercenaries questioned.

Toop crumpled her jacket and flung it to the ground. "I don't care about the woman. Just make sure she is unable to talk!"

"And her people?" Another man asked. "The soldiers with her?"

"Kill them too."

* * *

"Where are we?" Jen whispered, staring at Mathias back. Crammed behind the man in a narrow alcove, they waited in the shadows while Terron scouted the darkened corridors ahead.

Mathias turned to shush her with a wave. "We are beneath the main rooms of the palace." He whispered. "If we can reach the Sanctuary, Toop will be unable to do anything until after we have made our confessions to the Head Advisor, Nort. It is law."

"The Sanctuary?" Jen whispered. "Where's that?"

"The building across the village square."

"Across the square." She muttered, staring up at the ceiling, trying to recall the large open space they'd crossed when they first arrived inside the walls of the town. "Wait…" She narrowed her eyes, recalling a small brown structure set off to the side. It was the only building that wasn't several stories tall, and at the time, reminded her of a garden shed. "You mean that little thing behind the fountain?"

Mathias nodded. "That is the one."

Terron hurried back towards them down the corridor. "Something is going on. The guards are all heading towards the main levels of the palace. No one is watching the entrance to the tunnels."

"Probably part of Toop's plan." Mathias stepped into the corridor. "But it also works in our favor."

Jen hurried around him. "Can we get to the courtyard?"

"Yes." Terron nodded. "But we should hurry. Toop will not be happy to discover we have escaped."

"Then hurry!" Jen ordered.

"Are you _sure_ you are not a Priestess?" Mathias snorted as he started forward, his long gait slowing to match her shorter steps. "Because you give orders like one."

"No," Jen fought a smirk. "I'm not. Now stop yakking and get moving."

"Yes, Milady."


	25. Chapter 25

"Where are we?" Ellis asked as they moved through the tunnels.

"Back beneath the palace rooms." Evan stepped around a corner, his P90 leading the way.

"He sounds awfully sure of himself." Browne stage whispered to Sanchez.

The captain snorted. "That's why he's a Major, and you're not."

"And here I thought it was my striking good looks." Evan snorted.

"Wrong audience if you're looking for a reply to that." Ellis glanced at his CO.

Evan held up his hand, snapping them all to a silent halt. Someone was coming. He waved Browne and Sanchez across the hall, and both men took positions inside a dark alcove. Evan and Ellis moved into the shadows of an intersecting corridor. They held still as a pair of palace guards rushed past. Once the two men were gone, the team stepped back out into the corridor.

"Where do you think they were going in such a hurry?" Ellis mused aloud.

"I don't know." Evan waved them forward. "But something tells me it's not good."

"The Doc?" Sanchez asked.

"I hope so." Evan glanced at his watch.

"How much time?" Browne asked.

"Five minutes, tops." The Major answered. "Probably less."

"No problem." Sanchez exclaimed. "What?" He blinked when three pairs of eyes glanced his way. "I'm just thinking positively."

* * *

Jen peered out from behind Mathias, trying to see past him to the archway. They'd made it out of the catacombs and were one floor below the ground level, a corridor shy of gaining access to the outside world. A corridor that was blocked by palace guards who's loyalty they couldn't be sure of. "Are they still there?"

"They are." Mathias answered, his voice a harsh whisper. He leaned back, forcing her to step away from the opening.

"How many did you see?" She asked.

"Ten," Terron answered. "All armed."

"Do we know if they're the real guards?" Jen glanced from one man to the other.

"I recognized some…" Mathias shook his head, and shrugged. "But we can not take the chance."

Jen rubbed her abdomen, her mind struggling to think of any other means of escape. "Is there another way out?"

Terron shook his head. "Not without going back through the tunnels."

"I vote no on that." She pursed her lips. "Is there another way around to the far side? Up and around or something?"

Terron frowned, then glanced at Mathias. "We could go up and through the kitchens."

"It will be crawling with guards." Mathias shook his head firmly.

Terron paused. "Not necessarily."

"Will it get us around towards the Sanctuary?" She placed her hand on Mathias' arm.

Both men nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for!" She ordered. "Let's go!"

Mathias gave her a humorless smirk. "To get to the kitchens, we'll need to get to the stairs, which Milady, are on the other side of the great hall."

Jen sighed. "The same great hall that's currently covered in guards?"

Both men nodded.

She rolled her eyes. Where was a good old fashioned distraction when you needed one?

She nearly screamed when the com in her ear crackled and hissed.

Terron and Mathias jerked in tandem with her muffled squeak.

"Major?" Jen said as loud as she dared. Static answered. She cupped her hand over the mic. "Major Lorne? Can you hear me?"

Mathias grabbed her arm and pulled her further into the alcove. "Who are you talking to?" he whispered harshly.

Terron pressed in beside him, dwarfing her.

She moved her hair aside. "It's a communications device. It wasn't working in the tunnels, but I think it's working now. I just heard something."

"Your people?" Terron asked hopefully.

"Let's hope so." Jen nodded. "Major? Major Lorne? It's Dr. Keller. Can you hear me?"

Static crackled and then a chopping reply broke through. "Doc? Is… can barely hear…"

"Colonel Sheppard?" Jen answered, her surprise raising her voice a little louder than intended. Mathias slapped his hand over her mouth and all three of them held their breath.

"Doc? What's…position…outside the…" John's voice called, but she couldn't answer with Mathias hand in the way.

"Doc?" John tried again, his calls broken by spurts of static. "Hear me…reply…Doc?"

When Mathias finally decided no one heard her, he removed his hand and Jen took a deep breath.

"Colonel thank god," she exhaled. "One of the monks is trying to stage a coup and we're trapped in the city. I can't reach Major Lorne's team and I'm worried something's happened to them. We're stuck inside the palace and really need a distraction about now."

* * *

Beneath the thick camouflage of the heavy tree branches, Colonel Sheppard waved all three teams to a halt. Peering out through the foliage to the neatly laid out town on the other side of the field, he turned slowly towards Ronon as they heard Jen's broken transmission.

_"…monks…stage a coup…trapped…Lorne…something's happen… distraction about now…"_

John blinked.

"Did she just use the words _monks_ and _stage a coup_ in the same sentence?" Rodney exhaled as he stepped up beside John.

John nodded, his eyes locked on the Satedan, who was staring at the village. "Yep."

"I wonder if she's staging the coup, or the monks are," the scientist mused allowed.

"I believe she also asked for a distraction." Teyla said softly.

"Chewey?" John stepped up beside Ronon.

Ronon exhaled a long, low growl. "If anything's happened…" Ronon let the threat of death and dismemberment hang in the air.

John nodded and clamped his friend on the shoulder. "Go. Try not to kill everyone until we get there."

Ronon took off without a backward glance.

"You know it's scientifically impossible for something that big to make that little sound." Rodney muttered as Ronon disappeared silently through the trees.

John turned towards the others. "All right, you heard the Doc. Time to blow shit up."

"Ooh-rah!"

* * *

Evan slid to a stop, the heavy fall of footsteps reaching his ears. His first thought was to find cover, but in the open space of the wide corridor, there was nothing to hide behind. His second thought, was subterfuge.

Play dumb.

He waved the others to lower their weapons. Slightly.

Four palace guards rounded the corner and paused, then adjusted their step as they approached. Evan didn't recognize them. They weren't from the group outside the Priestess quarters. But judging by their expressions, the guards knew who Evan was.

"Major." The first man nodded, as he stopped in front of the team. "We've been searching for you."

Evan angled his head and waited. "You have?"

The leader nodded, adjusting his grip on the rifle he carried. It was pointed towards the ground, but the guard's finger hovered near the trigger. "The Priestess wishes to speak to you. It is of utmost urgency. If you would please follow us?"

Taking a deep breath, Evan calmed all the warning bells chattering in the back of his mind. Something was definitely not right. Ninety-nine percent sure they were about to walk into a trap, he found no option that didn't involve killing. And without knowing where Jen was, or if she was in immediate danger, starting a gunfight in a narrow corridor was probably not their best course of action. So he nodded to the guard. "Of course. Lead the way."

Two of the palace guards stepped out front, marching smartly down the hallway. The remaining two fell in behind, sandwiching the team between them. Evan most definitely did not like having armed unknowns on his six…but at the moment, they had no choice.

The guards led them through the corridors until they reached a wide staircase awash with bright sunlight. There was no roof above them, the deeply set stairs open completely to the blue sky above. Evan hesitated at the bottom step, glancing up to the walls of the palace above his head, several floors of balconies dotted with colorful flags and swatches of cloth swaying in the breeze. Somewhere up there was the Priestess chambers. And somewhere up there, he hoped was the Doc.

Several steps up the two guards in the lead stopped and turned when Evan didn't immediately follow.

"Is there a problem Major?" The first man eyed him warily.

Evan shook his head, his eyes dropping to the steps in front of him. The steps where the palace guard's booted feet rested a few steps up. Booted feet. Feet covered with dried mud. Evan's eyes immediately switched to boots of the second guard. Dark leather, heavy treads, well worn, heavy laces.

Military style footwear.

Not the pompous slippers every other palace guards had been wearing to cover their feet at the request of the Priestess. Palace guards who never left the building would have no need for military style hiking boots.

Evan almost smiled when he looked up. "Sorry. The architecture here reminds me of another planet we visited once." He glanced at Ellis who was standing on the steps to his right, and made sure his voice was clear enough to make it back to Sanchez and Browne. "What was it called? Jana?"

Ellis blinked at Evan's purposeful reference of an ambush they'd survived a few months back.

Behind them Sanchez nodded. "I believe so, Sir. Beautiful city if I remember correctly."

Evan almost laughed at the captain's description of the dusty rubble pile they'd spent two days trapped inside as _'beautiful'_. He turned back towards the two guards in front of him, knowing his men had understood the warning. "Shall we?"

The head guard eyed him warily, but seeing nothing outwardly different in Evan's demeanor, gave in and turned back around, leading them up the outside staircase and into the sunshine.

* * *

"Stop!" Mathias hissed, yanking Jen back around a large pillar. He pointed out across the central square towards the far side. "Look! Is that not your people?"

Shielding her eyes from bright sunlight, Jen glanced around the stone obstruction. She followed the direction of Mathias index finger to a stone stairway on the far side of the courtyard. Climbing up from the lower basement levels of the palace, two guards lead four familiar faces into the square. SGA2. With a sigh of relief, Jen started to smile, but her face froze to recognize the four guards surrounding them.

Not guards. Mercenaries! When the lead guard stepped away and moved towards the other guards in the courtyard, Jen's heart stopped beating at the realization of what was happening. There would be fourteen guards against four.

"Evan! It's a trap!" She shouted—her voice echoing across the courtyard.

And then true to Evan's warning, all hell broke loose.

* * *

A huge explosion vibrated the ground, and P90 fire chattered through the courtyard below.

Mathias grabbed Jen and spun her around, pulling her down beneath the stone walls of the balcony as chunks of plaster and rock splattered into the air around them. _Someone was shooting at her!?_ Jen screamed and curled into herself. Terron crawled towards them and hooked his arm around her waist, steering her back towards the corridor. On her hands and knees between Terron and Mathias, Jen crawled off the balcony.

Another loud series of explosions sounded, shaking the floor beneath them, raining dust and bits of plaster and rock down around them. Shouts and orders echoed off the walls and it took Jen a few seconds to realize the orders were also coming from inside her ear. _Rescue_!

Mathias lifted her to her feet and pushed her forward. "Go!" he ordered. "Up to the Priestess chambers. It is the most secure!"

"No!" Jen argued, sliding to a stop. "You need to get to the Sanctuary!"

"Forget the Sanctuary!" Terron grabbed her hand and pulled her down a corridor.

Jen struggled against him, her bare feet sliding on the cold tile. "The guards are going to shoot you!"

"Oh, and not you?" Mathias scowled, shoving her in behind a series of tapestries. Terron ducked into the alcove behind them and all three held their breath as a half-a-dozen guards ran down the hallway towards the balcony they'd just exited.

The pained sound of hand-to-hand fighting erupted from behind them—in the direction of the balcony. Jen wriggled against Mathias grip, but the two men were having none of it.

Mathias scooped her up and shoved her into Terron's arms. "Get her upstairs!"

"Put me down!" Jen ordered, whacking Terron across the shoulders.

"Go!" Mathias ordered, turning his friend and pushing him down the corridor. "I'll create a distraction."

"Put me down!" Jen wriggled against Terron's firm grip, but it was like trying to fight a statue. As they neared the bottom of the stairs, two guards hurried around the corner and came face to face with Jen and Terron.

"Halt!" The guards shouted, as Terron spun and jumped behind a pillar. Grunts and crashes followed the footsteps of the guards chasing them. Dropping to his knees, Terron slid Jen into a cubbyhole, but before he could move his was snapped back, a large hand fisted in his hair. Terron suddenly found himself dangling several inches from the floor, a beefy hand cutting off his air supply, and a very large weapon jammed beneath his chin.

"Ronon stop!" Jen shrieked, trying unsuccessfully to stand up. She gave up and pounded Ronon's leg with her fist. "He was trying to help me! Don't hurt him!"

Not releasing Terron from his strangling position, Ronon stared down at Jen.

"You okay?"

Jen nodded. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Put him down!"

Ronon released Terron and the young man dropped to the ground in a heap, clutching his throat and gasping for air.

Terron coughed several times and glanced at Jen. "I take it this one is yours?"

Jen lifted her hands and Ronon pulled her to her feet. "He's mine." She answered, flinging her arms around Ronon's waist and burying her face against his chest. "All mine."

Footsteps rounded the corner behind them and with a fluid movement, Ronon spun Jen behind him and aimed at the man running up the hallway.

"Stop!" Jen commanded.

Mathias slid to an abrupt halt, his hands frozen in the air beside his head, his eyes locked on Ronon.

"He's with us." Jen exhaled.

Ronon scowled. "Is there anyone I _can_ shoot?"

"Oh yes." Jen looked up at her husband and nodded slowly. "I know just the man."

* * *

"What are they arguing about?" Terron leaned towards Jen, but his eyes were on Evan and Ronon who were standing in the middle of the square, verbally sparring.

Jen shook her head with a snort. "Who gets to shoot him."

"Shoot him?" Mathias glanced at Terron over Jen's head. Then he turned back to Jen. "You are a doctor. You would let them shoot someone?"

Jen shrugged then shook her head. "No. But it's worth the wait to see the expression on Toop's face right now."

All three turned towards the monk who stood on the other side of the square. He swayed between Ellis and Sanchez, his robe torn and covered in dirt and drying blood. His face was a mess—one eye was almost swollen shut, and his lip was split in two places. Behind him, John, Teyla and several marines watched as the real palace guards dragged the last of the mercinaries down into the tunnels towards the dungeon. Eight soldiers had been discovered—four were now dead at the hand of Evan and his team, and four others taken prisoner.

"Technically Ronon should win." Browne nodded, stepping up to Jen. "The Major already got his shots in."

"Apparently he feels deserving of more?" Terron suggested.

Jen let out a snort of disgust and stepped forward. Two hands landed on her shoulders. She scowled as the weight of Terron and Mathias' hands held her in place.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" Browne said softly.

The argument abruptly stopped as both Ronon and Evan slowly turned towards her, their eyes on the men standing behind her.

Jen felt the hands immediately lift away and she smiled over her shoulder, realizing Browne's warning was directed at Mathias and Terron—and not her. She walked forward and stopped between Ronon and Evan. "No one gets to kill him."

"Thank you My Lady…" Toop's relieved exhale spun Jen around.

"Shut it, Poop." She snapped at the monk. Her forward stride was abruptly stopped by Ronon and Evan's hands on her arms. "One more word out of you and I'll take you out myself. You tried to kill a baby, murder two men in cold blood, and blame me. This does not make me very happy with you right now."

Toop paled.

Jen glanced around at the palace guards. "Who's in charge here, anyway."

An older man stepped forward and gave her a flourishing bow. "I am Milady."

"Why does everyone keep calling her Milady?" Rodney asked aloud.

Jen looked at the guard. "There's nothing wrong with the baby, and Mathias and Terron were purposely prevented from attending the birth. Do you understand?"

The guard nodded quickly. "Yes Milady. I understand."

"They're free to go?" She glared at the guard.

He nodded and bowed again. "As you are my witness, they are free to go."

"Toop? And the prisoners?"

"They will be dealt with accordingly." The guard glared at the monk. "We do condone acts of treason."

"And the baby?" She questioned, drawing the guard's attention once again.

"The baby shall be ordained, Milady." He bowed again. "And the grandmother banished."

"Good." She nodded. "Because if I should hear differently…"

"You shall not Lady. The word of the Royal Guard stands."

Jen frowned, then nodded. "Fine." She turned towards Terron and Mathias, who were watching her with a mix of amusement and wonder. "What?"

Both men shook their heads. "It is nothing Milady." Terron said quietly.

They gave her a long dramatic bow, both dropping to one knee in front of her.

"We owe you our lives, Milady." Mathias said firmly, his eyes downcast. "A debt we will repay should you but ask."

"Oh get up." Jen rolled her eyes.

"Okay does no one else see anything unusual about all this?" Rodney scowled.

John shrugged. "Not really."

Rodney gave him an incredulous stare.

"All right then." Jen announced turning to face Ronon and Evan. "If there's nothing else? I want to go home now."

Evan flipped his arms wide and bowed. "As Milady wishes," he drawled.

"Oh stuff it." She scowled and brushed past him. With Ronon directly behind her, palace guards and marines parted like the sea, giving her a clear path towards the back of the courtyard.

* * *

On a balcony several floors up, Abra stared over the railing to the scene in the courtyard below. "How can you doubt?" he whispered, his voice betraying his awe. "She commands an army!"

Nort, with a white gauze bandage wrapped around his head, nodded his agreement. "I no longer doubt." He clasped the younger monk on the shoulder. "Come. Let us see to the child."

Abra nodded, but could not resist one last look at the Lantean Priestess.

"Good bye Dear Lady!" He shouted, waving boisterously. His heart caught when she turned and looked up him. She smiled and kissed her fingertips, then waved the invisible kiss towards the balcony where he stood.

Abra gasped in shock and pressed his hand to his cheek. Then his eyes rolled back and he dropped to the balcony floor in a dead faint.

"You know, he really should get that looked at." Sanchez muttered, watching from the back of the courtyard.

"Later." Ronon turned Jen away when she stepped back towards the palace.

"Yeah…" Evan frowned. "And by some _other_ Doctor."

"What are you saying?" Jen glanced over her shoulder at the Major, walking after Ronon as he pulled her firmly away from the village.

"He's saying that there's a new rule, Doc." John added, falling in with them. "Double the teams?"

"Hey!" Evan frowned. "There was nothing wrong with having one team."

John raised an eyebrow. "You lost her."

"I didn't lose her." Evan made a face. "She was…kidnapped."

"That wasn't much of an argument." Ellis leaned towards his CO. "If that's what you were going for."

Jen glanced up at Ronon, who's eyes betrayed his amusement. "Don't worry," she smiled up at her husband. "I made my own rule."

"You did, huh." Ronon smirked.

She nodded, tightening her grip on his hand. "How do you feel about becoming a personal bodyguard?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Depends on who's body I'm guarding."

"Oh get a room." Rodney muttered.

"I think it's too late for that…" John snorted.

Jen laughed. "It's never too late for _that_…"

.

.

.

_Author's Note - Next stop? Month 8. Don't worry. Jen keeps to her new rule. Too bad it's the boys who will need rescuing this time! :)_


	26. Chapter 26 The Eighth Month

**The Eighth Month**

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"Relax, Chewey." John commanded softly, his gaze turning towards the rattling coming from the back half of the caged cell. "She's fine."

"We don't know that." Ronon countered, eyeing the seams along the top edge of the metal door. They were currently locked in a large cell sitting on the edge of a forested encampment, with metal bars framing the walls and ceiling.

"Doc's locked inside an invisible space ship." John turned back towards the front of the cell, his attention once again on their captor's campsite. He eyed the two men who had been posted as guards, neither one of whom was giving any mind to the prisoners. "I'm highly doubting our attentive friends here have the willpower, or the firepower to do anything about it."

"They got us, didn't they?" Rodney harrumphed, rolling his eyes at John. "Oh great military leader…"

"Hey!" John scowled. "I did it to save _your_ ass," he paused. "Again."

A sharp burst of P90 fire cut off Rodney's retort, and pulled everyone's attention to the far side of the encampment, where a trio of leather clad mercenaries whooped over the firepower they'd recently acquired. After destroying several large, red husked fruits, they'd moved on to shooting holes in one of the tall pine trees on the outskirts of the camp site.

Rodney shook his head in disbelief. "It's like watching a Pegasus version of the Three Stooges."

"Are they not the ones who…" Teyla held up two fingers and mimicked poking Rodney in the eye.

"Yup." The scientist smirked and held his hand palm up, fingers tightly together, and held it against his nose in the signature stooges block.

Teyla raised an eyebrow and jabbed her fingers the rest of the way over Rodney's hand. McKay then let out a "nyuck nyuck" and palmed his face, causing John to let out an amused snort.

"Oh I'm so taking away your DVD player…" The Colonel muttered at Teyla.

"What?" The Athosian smiled. "I found it very…amusing."

"Who, the Tree Stooges?" John smirked. "Or McKay?"

"Oh ha ha." Rodney deadpanned.

Laugher and cheers erupted through the clearing when a large branch fell from the shot up pine tree, landing on the ground with a cracking thud. A group of men nearby toasted the fallen limb, spilling drinks over the sides of their mugs as they hooted their approval.

"Well I'm just glad they haven't figured out how to trigger the C4." John angled his chin to where a short, scruffy man with a beard was prodding a brick of the explosive with his fingers.

Ronon made a noise somewhere between a grunt and snort, and resumed his search for an exit. But despite the rusted look of the bars, their prison was very solidly constructed.

"Look," John glanced at his watch. "Once Atlantis contacts the jumper, Doc will explain what's going on, and Major Lorne will scramble the teams."

"Won't work." Ronon growled.

"Of course it will work." John frowned.

"We've been gone almost two hours." Ronon shook his head

"And we have less than thirty minutes to check in." John answered.

Ronon turned towards the Colonel. "You're missing the point."

Teyla stepped forward, and angled her head towards John. "I believe what Ronon is trying to say is that your plan suggests Jennifer will be _inside_ the Jumper to answer Atlantis when they call."

John glanced from the Athosian to the Satedan, and let out a long, exasperated sigh. "She won't be there, will she?"

Ronon gave him a slight smirk, then turned back to examine the corner. "Nope."

John scowled at Ronon's back. "The woman follows orders as well as you do." Then he shook his head. "She's eight month's pregnant. Just what could she possibly think she could do? We're a twenty minute flight from the gate, and she can't fly."

"Oh, I'm not so sure she'd be headed for the gate." Rodney muttered, his gaze on the far side of the clearing.

"Well what else could she do?" John glanced at the scientist.

"Waltz into the campsite?" Rodney suggested. "Or perhaps waddle is a better description."

"Wacked out hormones will only carry you so far." John snorted. "Even she's not that stupid."

"Well…" Rodney paused and pointed. "Then I dare you to tell her that. 'Cause here she comes."

Teyla, John and Ronon rushed to the bars beside Rodney.

Coming in along the back side of the mercenary camp, came Jennifer. The long skirt of the Athosian dress swirled around her ankles as she brazenly forward, one hand on her lower back, the other resting on her very extended abdomen. Two armed men walked beside her, the tall, wiry one on her left having difficulty keeping his gait slow enough to match her very pronounced waddle. But she didn't seem to be bothered by his angry scowl. In fact, as John stared in horror, the angry glower she was giving the soldiers they passed was even more pronounced than her captors. Meek mannered Jennifer Keller, their quiet and calm CMO, was apparently so far past angry, she'd lost her freaking mind.

"What the hell?" John mumbled glancing at Ronon, who was gripping the bars with white knuckled intensity.

"I'm going to kill her." Ronon growled low in his throat.

"Easy, Chewy." John warned, his gaze locked on the woman as she walked slowly into the middle of the campsite.

Jen stopped when the man who'd been poking the C4 stepped forward and scowled at her, his short, stout frame blocking her path. They were the same height, but his heavy girth put him at twice her size.

"Who are you?" He sneered.

She frowned. "I need to speak to whoever's in charge."

Silence fell across the campsite.

"Well that would be me." He answered gruffly.

Jen raised an eyebrow. "You're in charge?" Her voice was dripping with incredulity, and the two men who flanked her snorted in amusement.

The stout man glared at his companions and leaned closer to Jen. "Are you calling me a liar?"

Jen shook her head and angled her face away. "Not if you don't stop lying. Now introduce me to who ever is in charge."

"I said…" he reached forward and fingered a lock of her hair. "That would be me."

Jen reached up and grabbed the man's hand away from her hair, pinning his thumb back against his wrist. Her right arm shot out and gripped the side of the man's neck. He dropped to his knees, howling in pain. Jen stood stock still over him, her left hand still holding his right thumb, and her right hand pressed against the side of his neck.

"God damn it!" John cursed, his fingers squeezing the bars in a death grip. "I told Cadman to lay off the pressure points!"

"And I said," Jen's voice carried clearly across the campsite. "Introduce me to the man in charge."

Other than to tense and move closer, the two soldiers beside her didn't move to stop her. But their eyes did snap to an older man sitting near the back of the campsite. The man stood slowly, setting his mug onto the table before walking across the camp to where she stood.

"I am Kale." The man nodded, his face unreadable. "The leader of the Molta."

"Molta?" Teyla whispered, her eyes narrowed.

"You know them?" John answered, not taking his eyes off Jennifer.

Teyla nodded. "They approached our people last year for trade. Halling negotiated. He said they were rude…but fair. I have not met them personally."

"Rude." Rodney repeated. "Yup. Good a description as any."

Jennifer nodded at Kale. With a snap of her hands, she released the other man, who fell to the dirt with a whimper. Kale turned to the two soldiers with her and snapped his head. "Get him out of here."

The two men grappled with the weight man on the ground, but between them managed to haul him to his feet and drag him to one of the tents on the far side of the camp.

"The Molta do not take kindly to such intrusions. You are either very brave…" Kale raised an eyebrow. "Or very stupid."

"Oh Crap…" Rodney muttered.

"What?" John glanced quickly at him.

"Wrong thing to say…" The scientist shuddered, watching as Jennifer dropped her hands to her hips and glared at Kale.

"What I am…" Jen scowled. "Is very, very pregnant. I'm sore, aching, walking around with ten pounds of fluid in my ankles, tired, hungry, and carrying a child who is currently trying to play whack-a-mole with my spleen. What I am not… is someone who is in the mood for any bullshit."

Silence dropped to the point where John could actually hear Rodney breathing. Ronon exhaled, a long slow sound somewhere between a growl, and a pained groan.

All eyes were on Kale until he tipped his head back and laughed, long and loud. Tension skipped over the gathered crowd and soldiers parted, moving back to their places as the Moltan leader swung his arm towards the table he'd vacated. "I like you, woman." He grinned. "Come. Sit. And you can tell me how you overpowered Dalain so easily."

"What the hell does she think she's doing?!" John scowled at Ronon, who was watching Jennifer with a hawk-like intensity.

"You know, Jeannie nearly killed a maître d'once." Rodney said quietly as they watched Jennifer walking across the campsite in the shadow of the imposing figure of Kale.

"What?" John shook his head in confusion, glancing quickly at Rodney before turning back to Jennifer and Kale.

"The guy told her she looked lovely pregnant." Rodney shrugged. "Which apparently suggested that she didn't look lovely when she _wasn't_ pregnant."

"McKay." John glared at him, exasperated.

"Jennifer is not thinking clearly." Teyla translated.

"Yeah well I think I figured that out already." John made a face as Jennifer sat down in a chair across from Kale. "Damn,. they're to far away to hear what's being said…"

"Apparently not for the bionic woman" Rodney flipped his thumb towards Ronon, who'd moved further down the bars.

Ronon glared at the scientist and Rodney held his hands up. "Quiet! I'm quiet!"

Across the campsite, Jennifer settled into the stiff wooden chair with a sigh. She straightened her skirts and silently willed herself not to look at the cage where Ronon and the others were being kept. Instead she focused her emotions on the man in front of her. The man who'd taken them prisoner.

With a grunt and a dismissive wave, Kale ushered the other men to step back. The group of soldiers retreated to another table a few yards away. He held out his mug and Jennifer shook her head at the foul smelling brew. He shrugged, then slid a half rusted plate of bread and cheese across the table towards her. Choosing a chunk of the yellowed cheese that looked reasonably healthy, she sat back and nibbled a small corner. It smelled like extremely old cheddar, sharp and tangy. Her stomach burbled happily and she finished the piece before turning to her host.

"Do you have a name?" He raised an eyebrow and watched her from over the top of his mug.

"Jennifer." She answered. "Jennifer Keller."

He nodded. "Very well, Jennifer Keller. I am…intrigued as to how it is a woman in your…situation…happens to wander into my camp."

Jen tipped her head towards the cage on the far side of the camp, but didn't take her eyes off her host. "You have something that belongs to me."

"I do?" He blinked, unable to hide his surprise as his gaze turned towards the prisoners. "Them? They are…yours?"

She nodded and reached for another piece of cheese. "I want them back."

He turned towards her, his expression incredulous. "You want…you are here to…negotiate?"

She nodded. "If that's what you want to call it."

He watched her in silence for a few moments before his face broke wide with laughter. "Jennifer." He rolled her name round then took another drink of his brew. "Jennifer Keller. Very well. Then by all means, let us…negotiate. Your…people…if they are indeed your people…trespassed on my land. This carries a heavy penalty with _my_ people."

"Your land?" Jen popped another piece cheese into her mouth and chewed furiously. "What land? We were here two days ago and this planet was uninhabited."

"Yes, well…it is not uninhabited now."

Jen frowned. "You can't just waltz into an empty planet and claim it for your own."

"Why not?" He answered, breaking off a chunk of bread with his teeth and chewing loudly. "Who is going to stop me?" He waved a hand towards the cages. "Them?" He flipped his hand towards her. "You?"

"Look." Jen scowled. "I didn't walk all this way to discuss the semantics of land possession in Pegasus."

"Se...mantics?" He frowned around the word.

Jen wobbled her head in disgust and narrowed her eyes. "Just let them go and we'll get out of your hair. I promise we won't bother you and your…" she waved her hand dismissively around the campsite. "merry men again."

Kale laughed. "You are a terrible negotiator, Jennifer Keller."

Jen raised an eyebrow at the insult.

Kale wiggled the crust of bread towards the cages, flinging crumbs onto the dirt. "I have something you obviously want." Then he eyed the group who had switched to M9's and were now quite happily blowing holes in fruit they'd lined up along the fallen husk of the tree branch. "You have something I want."

"Your lives?" Jen scowled, and almost winced at Ronon's very audible growl. She refused to look towards him, keeping her attention on the man across the table, and praying all those ladies poker nights had taught her something about bluffing.

"Our lives?" Kale blinked, confused. He gave her a curious, head to toe glance. "Your threat might carry more weight if you were not…"

"What?!" She barked and straightened in the chair. "Pregnant?"

He shook his head. "Actually, I was going to say, alone."

"How stupid do you think I am?" She rolled her eyes and settled back. "You don't really think I'm here by myself, do you?"

Kale laughed and looked around. "Your people come heavily armed…_and_ invisible?"

"Of course they're not invisible." She sighed, exasperated. Rubbing her stomach absently she pursed her lips and tried again. "Look, Kale. I'm a doctor. A healer. I prefer to find solutions where everyone lives. Shooting first is more my husband's style."

"I agree with your husband."

Jen snorted. "Most men do."

Kale glanced around, his eyes wrinkled with amusement. "Tell your men to show themselves, then."

Jen made a face. "And give away our position so your men can sneak in behind them? I don't think so."

He picked up a knife that lay on the table, and made a show of cutting off a piece of cheese. "I could force them to show themselves."

Jen glanced at the knife, ignoring the warning grumble coming from the cages behind her. The hard cold look Kale was giving her quickly explained how he'd become the leader of a band of mercenaries. But she'd taken down a bigger man who's glare far surpassed the deadly look she was getting, so she brushed it off as nothing she hadn't seen before. Turning towards the tent where they'd taken the man she'd incapacitated, thanks to Laura's instructions, she shrugged her shoulders and let out a disappointed sigh. She switched her gaze back to Kale's face. "You could certainly try." Reaching forward, she took the freshly cut piece of cheese out of his fingers, popped it into her mouth and sat back against the chair. "But I wouldn't suggest it."

Kale paused, then embedded the blade of the knife into the tabletop with a loud thunk. The soldiers in the campsite froze and turned towards them, tension once again spilling over into the silence.

Jen was pretty sure she heard John Sheppard cursing, but Kale's sudden bark of laughter covered it over.

"Ah, Jennifer Keller…" The Moltan leader guffawed. "You will make a very good third wife."

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Author's Note: waves Hi all! Sorry for the delay in posting. But for those who hadn't heard, I broke my leg (in 3 places) playing hockey 10 days ago and am now the proud owner of titanium screws and plates holding it all together. I went one way, and my skate didn't come with me. It hurts a LOT but the good painkillers help. I'll have some wicked scars when this is all over. But fear not, I have returned, and here's the next installment! :) - Nika


	27. Chapter 27

_Third wife?_

Jen blinked at Kale, and raised an eyebrow. The man grinned widely before tearing off a chunk of bread and chewing with his mouth half open. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I'm pretty sure my husband would not be a fan of sharing," she said flatly.

Kale shrugged. "I could always kill him."

"I'd like to see you try…" she snorted under her breath as she looked down, pretending to pick crumbs off the material covering her waist while she hid her smirk. "So…" she glanced back up. "Where were we? Oh yes. You were going to let my friends out."

Kale downed his drink, wiped the back of his hand across mouth, and let out a resounding belch. "As I said before. You are not a very skilled negotiator."

"And I said, I'm a doctor, not a negotiator." Jen sat back in the chair. "And I'm not giving you weapons."

"Because you are a doctor?"

"Yes." Jen nodded. "So you'll have to think of something else. Something I'm willing to part with," she clarified, when he gave her a knowing grin.

Kale made a face. He picked up his knife and hacked off another piece of cheese. "And what's to stop me from just tossing you into the cage with them?"

Any thoughts of worry were immediately banished from Jen's mind when the baby rolled over and jabbed her in the ribs. "Gah!" she exhaled loudly and jerked in her seat.

Two of Kale's guards jumped to their feet, their weapons aimed at her.

"Jumpy?" She frowned at Kale, who waved his men off.

"They are only doing their job."

"I'm pregnant," she reminded him, rubbing her sore ribs and willing the child to take a rest. "Not exactly a fast moving machine."

"You certainly moved quickly on Dalain," he reminded her.

"Yeah well I have a feeling he's not exactly the sharpest stick in the bunch, is he?"

Kale blinked. "That was an insult."

Jen couldn't stop the smile at his confusion and she laughed. "Yeah."

Kale stood so abruptly the laugh caught and she coughed. She stared up at him as he towered over her, wondering if maybe, just maybe, she'd pushed her luck. Rattling sounded from the cages to her right but she didn't take her eyes off the man in front of her. He was watching her with guarded intent, but she wasn't detecting any real malice. If he'd wanted her harmed, she was pretty sure he'd have done it already.

So she waited.

"Show me," he commanded, jerking his hand towards her.

"Show you?" Jen repeated slowly, eyeing his open palm.

"How you felled Dalain." He wriggled his fingers.

_Ah_.

Jen reached out and placed her smaller hand in his large one, and allowed him to guide her to her feet

"And then you'll let my friends go?"

He dropped her hand. "And then I won't throw you in with them."

"Hmm," she pursed her lips and stared up at him. After a moment's pause she nodded. "Fine. But we need volunteers."

"Nole!" Kale barked.

A large man stepped up beside them. Big, bulky, and solidly built, he sneered at Jen.

Jen glanced at Kale. "He's the volunteer?"

Nole threaded his arms across his chest and growled. "Dalain fights like a woman! I will not be so easy."

Jen could almost hear Laura's laughter inside her head as she fought to keep a host of Cadman-esque retorts from sneaking out. Instead she took a deep breath and lifted her hand towards the brute's shoulder. Muttered curses sounded from the cage behind her and she half glanced to the side, catching the barest hints of Ronon and John in her peripherals. She quickly shifted her attention back to Kale and Nole.

"The human body is a very complex machine," she said matter-of-factly, placing her palm gently on the larger man's shoulder. "Some cultures believe there are certain places in the body that can help you heal an injury…" she rubbed her fingers lightly over the man's shoulder, sliding across the roughly woven cloth of his shirt. "Others believe there are places that when touched just so…" she dug her finger into the flesh around his collarbone, and Nole dropped to the ground with a grunt. "Can cause great pain," she finished, withdrawing her hand and stepping back.

Kale grinned and clamped Nole roughly on the shoulder, sending the large man face first into the dirt with an audible groan. Loud jeers echoed across the campsite as men cheered.

"Again!" Kale stepped towards Jen and turned her to face a table where two men were clasping each other on the shoulder and laughing boisterously.

Both men stood with taunting sneers towards Nole, who was rolling on the ground, clasping his injured shoulder and numb left arm. Jen sighed and walked towards the two new men. She dropped the first man quickly, the second one a little slower, under the watchful eye of Kale.

Behind the metal bars, Rodney glanced sideways at John and Ronon, who were both standing in the corner. "I _am_ seeing this right?" The scientist asked, his tone high with incredulity.

"Yes." John nodded, then shook his head slowly from side to side. "And I can say that only because _I'm_ seeing it." Then he paused. "Unless we're experiencing identical hallucinations."

"I suppose technically that could be possible." Rodney blinked as Kale waved Jen towards another pair of _volunteers_. "I mean, SG-12 documented a society where half the village experienced the same dream."

"I'd like to think I was dreaming…" John muttered as Jen dropped two more men. The Colonel turned to Ronon, who was watching Jennifer with barely contained mirth. "Are you…" he hesitated, then leaned closer to the Satedan. "Laughing?"

"No." Ronon glanced at the Colonel, his expression once again closed. "Teyla is."

John glanced at the Athosian, who had her hand clamped tightly over her mouth. She shook her head and shrugged.

"I mean, seriously!" Rodney gaped. "Are they really that stupid?"

Teyla shushed him with a glance and Rodney made a face. "I'm just saying…" he stammered.

"Yes, Rodney." She said quietly. "_We_ know what you are saying. But perhaps you should not tell _them_, that."

"Oh." Rodney blinked. "Right."

By the time Kale was beginning to understand the finger placement and the pressure zone, nearly a dozen of his men were sitting or lying on the ground, clutching injured and extremely pained shoulders.

"It'll go away in a few hours." She assured the Moltan leader. "But they'll be a little tender for a few days."

Kale grinned and examined his fingers as though seeing them for the first time. "And all this time I had such a powerful weapon…such…force…here…" Then he turned to Jen and laughed, ushering her back towards her seat. "This is definitely worthy of a celebration!"

He grabbed a dark glass bottle of one of the tables as he passed. Once Jen was seated at the table, he turned and poured a healthy portion of a dark amber liquid into his empty mug. Slamming the bottle onto the table he held the mug out to her but she waved it off and pointed to her abdomen. Dropping heavily into the chair across from her, he raised the mug in a silent toast then downed the contents. He dropped the empty mug to the table, and let out a long, loud belch.

"You will tell me where you learned this." He demanded, as he eyed the twelve injured men.

"A friend taught me." Jen replied, then took a deep breath. "Now I've shown you the trick, how about we finish the deal and you let my friends out?"

Kale turned his gaze towards her. After a moment's pause he tipped his head towards the cage. "You say they are your people, yet you are not dressed as they are. Explain."

"You're stalling." Jen frowned.

"Perhaps." He acknowledged, reaching for the bottle and pouring himself another mug full of the brew. "And what of it?"

Realizing she didn't _really_ have any other option, Jen rolled his question around in her mind.

"They _are_ my people." She said firmly.

"Why are you not dressed as they are?"

She snorted and eyed her very extended abdomen, protruding from beneath the Athosian dress. "You think I can fit those uniforms over this?"

"The style is different." Kale countered, not willing to let the matter drop. "As is the material. You do not dress as they do. How do I know this is not some kind of trap?"

"Trap?" Jen made a face.

"I let your people go, you return with more soldiers." He shrugged, and took a drink from his mug. "It is in my best interest to keep you. All of you."

Jen scowled. "Now who's being a bad negotiator."

Kale blinked, then lowered his mug with a snort. "You are not of their kind. So tell me, Jennifer Keller. Who are you? And why are you here?"

Jen sighed with exasperation. "I'm here for my people. I don't know how else to say it so that you'll understand."

"If you were here for your people…as you say…and you are not _alone_...why would you not have taken them by force?" He lifted his hand when she opened her mouth to answer. "Yes, yes, I know you are a doctor." Then he waved his hand dismissively at the injured men. "But a _doctor_ would not willing injure a man, would she?"

Jen frowned, knowing he sort of had a point. But then she shrugged. "It is a little pain. It will go away. There is no lingering damage done."

Kale took another drink, his brow furrowed as he appeared to ponder her answer.

Growing wary of the silence, Jen picked at a seam on the dress. Nervousness kicked her mouth into gear before she could stop it. "It's Athosian," she admitted.

"Athosian?" Kale set his mug down, and glared at her through narrowed eyes. "You are Athosian?"

Taking offence with his tone, Jen scowled. "And if I am?"

Kale snorted. "You are not Athosian."

"Sure I am." She lied, miffed at his attitude, and tired of the run-around.

"The Moltan people have a trade agreement with the Athosians." Kale said firmly. "We met the villagers half a year past. And you…were not there."

"Yeah, like everyone's always in the village at the same time." she countered. "Well _I_ don't remember _you_, either!"

Kale watched her, his expression closed. "Chara did not mention you."

Jen raised an eyebrow. "Chara?"

"The leader of the Athosians." Kale said with a grunt of satisfaction, believing he was catching Jen in a lie.

Jen rubbed her abdomen and gave Kale her best infirmary glare. "If you spoke to Chara, then you were talking to a ghost." She raised an eyebrow, catching the man at his own game. "Chara is dead."

"Hmm." Kale made a face. "I must have been mistaken."

"You do _not_ have a deal with the Athosians." Jen said firmly. "I doubt you'd even recognize one…if she was right here in your camp."

Kale raised an eyebrow at her tone. "You would be careful of how you speak, woman…"

Jen snorted. "Then don't lie."

Kale slammed his fist on the table. "You accuse me of lying!?"

Silence fell across the campsite once again, and Jen could clearly hear John's warning groan. She ignored it and leaned closer. "If you have a treaty with the Athosians…" she snapped. "Then you would know the Athosian leader is Teyla Emmagen."

"She is." Kale leaned across the table, his glaring face stopping inches from hers. "I do not lie."

Jen made a face as the foul smell of the tangy brew he'd been drinking wafted off his breath, but she didn't lean away. "Teyla?" She called out, not taking her eyes off the man in front of her.

"Yes, Jennifer?" Teyla replied, her voice carrying clearly across the campsite.

Jen almost smiled when Kale jerked in his seat.

"This man says he has a treaty with you." She asked pointedly.

"He does." Teyla answered. Then her voice dropped as anger clipped her words. "Although I believe I will be reconsidering Halling's decision."

"So…" Jen stared pointedly at Kale. "You were saying?"

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**_Author's Notes: YAY another chapter!! Sorry for the delay in posting. Besides nursing my broken leg, I've been going crazy with my upcoming book release! Eep! May 21st! Horribly nerve wracking! It's out in ebook and if I sell enough they'll move me to print! Worry worry worry! But in the mean time, I couldn't leave you hanging so here you go! Hopefully next chapter up over the weekend. :) - Nika_**


	28. Chapter 28

John leaned heavily on the bars, still stuck inside the cage as Teyla was escorted across the campsite towards Jennifer and the Moltan soldiers.

"Okay," Rodney appeared on John's left, and gripped the bars. "So _how_ is this helpful?"

"Because Teyla will make sure the Doc doesn't do anything crazy." John replied, his answer not quite as confident sounding as he wanted.

"Right." Rodney nodded, then paused. "And exactly how is that going to get us out of here?"

"The Athosians have a treaty with the Moltans." Ronon shifted his weight and leaned further into the corner where he'd wedged himself. Directionally it was the closest he could get to Jennifer while still confined to the cage.

"Uh huh." Rodney rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got that. Thank you Mr. Observant."

Ronon made a low noise in the back of his throat.

John thwacked Rodney across the back of the head.

"Hey!" Rodney scowled at the Colonel.

"Do you have a death wish?" John hissed, tipping his head towards Ronon. "He's finally stopped trying to rip the bars apart with his bare hands."

Rodney looked past John to where Ronon was giving him a cold stare. "What? I just meant…I mean…I…" The scientist stopped his back-peddling and clamped his mouth shut.

John thought that was probably the smartest move. He glanced over to his right, wondering just how the Satedan was managing to remain so outwardly calm. If he'd been in the same position—watching _his_ eight months pregnant wife sitting alone amongst a band of mercenaries without his protection—he would most likely be climbing the walls. Although technically…Ronon _had_ been climbing the walls—bars—just a few moments before.

Yeah…not good.

If there's one thing he'd learned over the years, was that a calm Ronon was a dangerous Ronon.

Kind of like a cobra right before it struck and killed you.

John only hoped Teyla could work her magic before _over-protective-husband-and-almost-daddy_ finally snapped and killed her new found trading partners.

Across the campsite, Jen used Teyla's approach to mask her concentrated stare towards her husband. She knew the relaxed slant in Ronon's hips as he angled himself against the bars was all for show. The intensity with which he watched her told Jen he was almost at his limit.

The minute he started to pace the bars, she knew she'd have maybe five minutes tops before he cracked.

Jen mentally willed him to breathe. She was too far away to see his expression with any clarity, but she knew how dark his eyes would be. He was furious with her—with the Moltens—and was barely holding it in. She hoped he'd give her the time she needed to get them all out safely. Now that Teyla was here, the Athosian would settle things diplomatically, and they'd all be home in time for supper.

Kale stood abruptly as Teyla, accompanied by two guards, stopped in front of him. The Molten leader angled his head, his frown betraying his disbelief and mistrust. "Teyla Emmagen I presume?"

Jen pushed herself up out of the chair and stepped towards the group.

Teyla blatantly ignored Kale's question and looked directly at Jen. "Jennifer, are you okay?" She placed her hand lightly on Jen's shoulder.

Jen nodded, lightly tapping Teyla's hand. "I'm fine. Tired. Hungry. Ready to go home."

"Don't worry," Teyla nodded and squeezed Jen's shoulder, flashing her a light smile before her face turned serious. "We won't be much longer," she turned pointedly towards Kale and raised an eyebrow. "Will we?"

Kale scowled at Teyla.

The Athosian hooked her arm through Jen's, and pulled the Doctor around the large man and angled her towards the table and chairs. "Sit, Jennifer."

Jen gladly obeyed. Dropping into the wooden chair with a sigh, she rolled her shoulders and waited for Teyla to move into the seat beside her. Last to move was Kale, who was still giving Teyla a commanding glare.

Once the trio was seated, Jen let Teyla take control.

The Athosian raised a sculpted eyebrow and turned her gaze to Kale. "Halling said your people offered a good trade. Weapons and information for food and a safe haven if needed."

"Your man was a skilled negotiator," he offered, giving Jen a sideways glance.

"Hey, I never said I was a negotiator," Jen mumbled.

"Halling also said," Teyla continued. "That your people seemed fair and competent."

Kale angled his head at the offhand compliment.

"If you wish to continue the treaty you will release the others." Teyla said firmly, angling her head towards the cage and the trio of men watching intently from behind the bars.

"They are not Athosian." Kale shook his head slightly, his eyes narrowing.

"That does not matter," Teyla countered. "They are _also_ my people."

Kale snorted and glanced from one woman to the other. "You two seem to collect people the way most collect weaponry."

Teyla made a face. "We find it comes in…handy."

"I bet you do."

"Okay." Jen tried to lean forward but her stomach met the table and she gave up with a resigned sigh. "You said you had a treaty with the Athosians, so just honor the damn thing and let them out."

"Correct." Kale leaned towards her, his expression closed. "A treaty with the Athosians."

Jen let out an exasperated snort. "Now look here, buddy…"

"Jennifer…" Teyla warned, placing a firm hand on Jen's arm.

"No, Teyla," Jen scowled at Kale. "I've pretty much had enough of this circle talk. He either has a treaty or he doesn't. I'm tired. I'm hungry. And I want to go home." She pushed her chair back and rose with effort, her voice climbing in time with her position.

Teyla stood with her, holding a firm hand on Jen's arm. "Jennifer…" the Athosian warned.

"What I am not…" Jen continued to glower at Kale. "is in any mood to play patty-cake with a Neanderthal who's too stupid to realize he's about 30 seconds shy of finding out why it's better to make friends with Atlantis than enemies! I mean come on…?" She looked at Teyla incredulously, flipping her palm upwards towards Kale. "How can he _not_ have heard of us? We've blown up how many hives by now? Darts? Wraith? Half a galaxy?"

Teyla pulled Jen to the side, angling her away from Kale when the Moltan leader shot to his feet.

Jen glared at him, of half a mind to poke him firmly in the chest, except Teyla wasn't holding her arm so tightly. "We've probably even saved _his_ ass at least once and this is the thanks we get? Locked in a cage?"

"Jennifer!" Teyla said with more volume.

"He doesn't even have claim on the land for goodness sake! You can't just claim an unoccupied planet and then lock people up for trespassing!"

"Doctor Keller!" Teyla shouted.

"What!" Jen yelled, and snapped her head around to face Teyla.

Teyla took a deep breath and angled her head to the side. Jen turned to see that most of the men in the camp had stepped forward, forming an almost perfect circle around them. Fingers gripped weapons and each man watched their leader for any commands.

"Great." Jen muttered, and turned back towards Kale, who was standing to the side with his arms threaded across his chest. "Oh don't give me that look," she pursed her lips. "You know I'm right. Now tell them to back off."

Dropping his arms, Kale stepped closer, closing the distance until he was standing belly to belly with Jen. Teyla stiffened beside her but Jen wasn't not about to let him intimidate her into admitting she might have gone a little too far with her rant. With her palms planted firmly on her hips she straightened her spine and bumped her belly firmly against his. She scowled up at him, refusing to budge. When Kale made no further move, Jen raised an eyebrow.

"Release them. Now." She said firmly.

Kale blinked.

Tipped his head.

Then burst out laughing.

He waved his hand dismissively at the man to his left, who walked towards the cage.

Jen knees wobbled slightly as she realized the mercinary wasn't about to cause harm…he simply unlocked the door.

"Are you sure you will not marry me?" Kale asked with a smug smile and Jen's head snapped back around. Kale turned towards Teyla. "It would certainly solidify our treaty."

"Hmmm." Teyla frowned. "I do not think her husband would approve."

Kale snorted. "Introduce us sometime."

"Why?" Teyla glanced sideways at Jen, then back to Kale.

Kale shrugged and flexed his shoulders. "Perhaps I will…convince him…to change his mind."

Jen opened her mouth to retort but her field of vision was immediately blocked by a wide expanse of brown leather. She bit back a snicker. "Kale, I'd like you to meet my husband."

"Your…" The Molton leader slowly shifted his gaze from Ronon's face to where Jen was peering out from between Ronon and John.

She smiled and gave Kale a wiggling finger wave from behind the two men.

"Doc," John stage whispered over his shoulder. "Please don't provoke the man who just released us from a jail cell."

Jen sighed and dropped her hand. "Spoil sport," she muttered.

Rodney shushed her and she turned towards him. "What?" she mouthed.

He gave her a wide eyed glare.

Jen sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Teyla made quick introductions then stepped back while John demanded the return of their obviously empty weapons.

At Kale's nod, a trio of mercenaries stepped forward and dropped the Tac-vests and weapons on the ground John's feet. Ronon continued to stare at Kale until Kale turned away and glared in turn at one of his men. The man rolled his eyes and stepped forward, withdrawing Ronon's blaster from behind his back. Ronon quickly retrieved it.

"Chewey…" John warned under his breath.

Ronon released his death-grip on the blaster and dropped it into his holster.

Tired of staring at Ronon's back, Jen tapped him firmly in the middle of the spine. His shoulders released only a small amount of tension as he stepped to the side and turned towards her. Jen slipped her arm around his waist and leaned into him. "Home now?"

He snorted, and glanced at John, who was pulling on his Tac-vest and checking the pockets.

"I don't see why not." John snapped his P90 to one of the front hooks and angled his head towards the Moltan leader. "Unless you have anything else you'd like to share?"

Rodney groaned, his hands hovering over the velcro straps on his vest. "You just had to ask…"

Kale eyed the Colonel with a smirk. "Your weapons are empty, you know…"

Ronon's blaster was up before Kale finished his sentence. "Not mine." He growled.

Kale's soldiers immediately stepped up from behind their leader, their weapons raised.

Rodney let out a small squeak and stepped back, bumping into Jen.

Jen sighed. "Ronon…he's not worth it."

Kale stared at Ronon, his smile gone.

With a grimace, Ronon slowly lowered his arm.

Jen turned and stepped forward, walking slowly towards the far side of the camp, accompanied by Teyla and Rodney. John and Ronon were the last to follow as they walked backwards, putting distance between themselves and the Moltan's.

"Jennifer!" Kale called out.

Jen stiffened and turned, trepidation twisting up her spine. "Yes?"

"You are also a terrible bluffer."

"What?" She frowned.

"You are lucky I did not believe you when you said you did not come here alone."

"And why's that?" John asked.

Kale shrugged. "A pregnant woman who would walk into the enemy camp alone is simply crazy. A pregnant woman who would walk into an enemy camp alone while her army hides in waiting isn't just crazy, she's dangerous." Kale angled his head. "I might have killed _dangerous_."

"Oh she's dangerous all right." A man's voice called out from the far side of the camp.

Everyone turned in surprise Evan broke through the underbrush, flanked by Ellis and Browne. All three men had their P90's raised and aimed at Kale and his men. Movement from the rear and from behind the cages revealed both Major Buchannan's team, and Major Teldy's team.

Kale's men spun with rifles raised, but they didn't know which direction to cover. Several spun in circles as the Lantean teams closed in. A shimmering of air above turned all eyes to the heavens as three jumpers uncloaked, hovering in formation above the open area of the campsite.

"Major." John nodded at Evan.

"Colonel."

"But…" Kale sputtered, his gaze dropping from the jumpers to Jen. "You were not…you would have...I do not believe it."

Jen shrugged and gave him a half smile. "Guess it's a good thing you didn't believe me then, huh."

"So…" John turned back towards Kale. "You were saying?"

"I…what?" Kale shook his head, fighting to regain his composure. "I was…merely stating a fact."

"Hmm." John nodded. "Well, our rides are here, so, we're gonna jet."

Kale continued to stare at Jen as she turned and walked towards a landing Jumper.

"Don't worry," Evan said in passing as he angled himself away from Kale and his men. "We'll make sure she doesn't bother you any more."

"I heard that." Jen called over her shoulder.

The other teams closed ranks, flanking the groups as they moved towards the jumpers.

Off to one side, John stood next to Evan, watching as Kale's men dropped their weapons into the dirt at Major Buchannan's urging.

"_Three_ teams?" John asked.

Evan shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

"I only ordered two on standby."

"I added one of my own." Evan angled his head. "Just in case."

John nodded slowly. "How long did you wait?"

"We didn't." Evan grinned. "I figured if you weren't back early, it was a bad sign. We were loaded up and waiting before Chuck tried your com."

"Right." John nodded, turning as the teams took turns boarding the jumpers. They backed slowly towards the last jumper, where Ronon, Ellis, and Browne stood guard with weapons aimed at the Moltans.

"New rule?" Evan asked.

"New rule." John said firmly. "No leaving the city. What. So. Ever."

"Team on the inside?"

"Always." John nodded. "I don't want her even going to the damn bathroom alone."

"Armed?"

John dropped his chin and stared at his second-in-command.

"Right." Evan nodded slowly as he moved up the ramp of the jumper. "Dumb question."

"What's a dumb question?" Rodney asked as the hatch lifted closed.

"If you're hungry." John smirked.

"Yeah, that _is_ a dumb question." Ronon snorted.

"Stuff it." Rodney whined. "You know I have—"

"Hypoglycaemia," a chorus of voices mimicked.

Rodney sighed and glared at Evan, who couldn't hold his laughter. "Oh shut up and drive."

.

.

.

**Author's Notes: I'm sorry this chapter took so long to post! It's been crazy since my book came out (yay!) and GLENN's been giving me issues wanting me to just get on to the 9th month! They wouldn't give me any idea on how Jen was going to get the boys free! Next stop - the 9th month! Auntie Laura to the rescue! --- Nika**


	29. Chapter 29 The Ninth Month

**The Ninth Month**

* * *

"God that feels good." Jen sighed, swirling her ankles in the cool ocean water. She leaned back against the stairs and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face. "I could stay here all day."

Beside her, Laura laughed. "Better not, someone might harpoon you."

Without looking, Jen struck out, whapping Laura across the upper arm. "Kiss my ass."

"I'd have to roll you over to find it first."

Jen snorted and sat up. "You're so good for my ego. Always making me feel better, bringing me up, saying the _nicest_ things."

"That's what friends are for." Laura grinned.

Jen leaned as far forward as she could and splashed water up her calves. "I should have brought my bathing suit."

"Not a chance in hell," Laura admonished.

"What?" Jen turned towards her. "I can swim."

"Flailing about like a drowning cat does not constitute swimming."

Jen glanced over her shoulder when a snort sounded from the top of the stairs behind them. "Something, funny Sergeant?"

Sergeant Jimmy Porter quickly hid his smirk. He adjusted his grip on his P90 and shook his head. "No, Ma'am."

Jen sighed, and turned back to her best friend. "_Why_ is he here again?"

Laura smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes. "Because our widdle Jenny might need to defend herself against a nasty-wasty."

"Someday I _am_ going to kill you." Jen gave her a glaring stare.

Laura shook her head. "No you won't. You love me."

"You just keep on telling yourself that." Jen shook her head and kicked her feet lightly back and forth through the water. "Seriously. I'm in the middle of the city. Having an armed bodyguard every time I leave my quarters is a bit of overkill, don't you think?

"Hell no." Laura snorted. "With your luck? You need a platoon. And with your recent obsession with the ocean, I'm thinking of requesting a SEAL unit with the next round of new recruits. That way when some giant sea carp thinks your fat ankles look like tasty worms and tries to eat you, we can man an armed rescue."

This time Sergeant Porter couldn't hide his laugh, earning him a sharply pointed index finger. "Shut it!" Jen scowled.

Jimmy clamped his mouth shut but Jen could tell by the clench to his jaw that he was barely holding in his mirth. She shook her head slowly and let out a long sigh. It was bad enough Richard Woolsey had agreed to John and Evan's request she be pulled from all off-world duty, but he'd also agreed to the secret service detail every time she went out. She was to have at least two people with her at all times, and one or both of them had to be armed. It was completely embarrassing.

She sighed and shook her head. "If I were back home this would so not be happening."

"I've met your Dad, remember?" Laura laughed. "He would _so_ have you under lock and key."

Jen snorted. Her Dad's reaction to her requests to be left alone _would_ pretty much mirror Ronon's usual answer. _No freekin' way_. "Yeah," she admitted with a grin. "He would, wouldn't he?"

"Damn straight." Laura nodded. "How's the clearance request going, anyway?"

Jen made a face. Since her last visit to Earth had ended so abruptly, the decision had been made not to return until the IOA subcommittees changed their policy on alien childbirth. Since Jen didn't think that was going to happen, she'd petitioned the SGC for security clearance for her father.

"You know the IOA…paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. General O'Neill is doing his best to push it through, but it might not happen anytime soon."

Laura leaned over and bumped her with her shoulder. "I'm sure the General will make it happen."

"I hope so…" Jen shoved her hair back behind her ears. "Otherwise I doubt he's going to see his grandchild until after this kid starts college."

After a few minutes of watching Jen swirling her feet, Laura leaned forward and stuck her hand beneath the surface. "Nope. Still cold."

"It's perfect."

"You know," Laura admonished. "There are ways to cool your feet that don't involve at twenty minute hike along the west pier."

Jen gave her a sly smile. "Yes but that wouldn't be as much fun as dragging your hung-over ass with me, now would it?"

"I'm not hung over." Laura scowled.

"You smell like you are."

"I do not smell!"

"Your pores are oozing Tequila."

"Ahh, Tequila." Laura sighed happily. "You're just jealous because you missed it."

"Damn straight." Jen nodded. "Being pregnant can really suck!"

"But you do it so well!"

"I _do it_ so well?" Jen raised an eyebrow and glared at her friend.

Laura's head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, you know… the bitching, the whining, the…Hey!" She squealed and scurried away when Jen splashed her.

"Careful, you might melt." Jen laughed.

Laura wiped the water off her face. "Cruel, Keller. Cruel."

Jen giggled and leaned back against the steps.

When her toes finally started to feel the bite of the cold water, Jen sighed and pushed herself up. "Okay…time to go back."

Laura stood and helped her to her feet. Sergeant Porter walked down the steps and fell in behind Jen as she climbed to the top.

"I am _not_ going to fall backwards…" she frowned at him over her shoulder.

"Stay there." Laura ordered the Sergeant.

Jimmy didn't comment, but he did remain attentively behind Jen. When she reached the top step she let out a groan and rubbed her lower back. "Stairs suck."

"We can always ask Rodney to build you a lift," Laura offered, making Jen laugh.

"And he'd do it because he has oh-so-much free time on his hands!" Jen shook her head. "Saving the world and all that…"

"Universe." Laura corrected. "Saving the _Universe_."

Jen walked forward, her two companions matching her slow pace. The ache in her lower back wasn't getting any better and she rubbed it with her fingers while she walked. "God I'll be so glad when this is all over."

"Don't start praying yet," Laura admonished. "You've still got three weeks until your due date, and didn't you say first babies are almost always late?"

Jen groaned. With one hand on her back and the other on her belly, Jen continued her waddling walk. "Ugh, don't remind me. I could be stuck this way for another six weeks!"

"Hey you did this to yourself," Laura reminded her. Then she shrugged. "Well, okay technically you might have had some help…"

Jen snorted. "Yes and I'll be sure to thank him profusely when this is all over."

"Poopie diapers, two am feedings…" Laura giggled. "Oh lord just the thought of Mister Big Bad having to wipe up baby barf…" Her laughter increased until she was almost doubled over. Then she straightened and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Oh god, that's just too funny."

"I'll tell him you said that."

Laura shrugged. "You do that. I'm not afraid of him."

"You're not."

"Nope." Laura said, crossing her fingers and holding them up. "Him and me? We're like this."

Her cocky expression made Jen laugh. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Laura smiled. "Yep. But I'm your idiot."

"Don't remind me." Jen groaned and rubbed the sharp ache spiraling up her back. "Okay this is getting annoying."

"Want to take a rest?"

Jen glanced around at the flat surface of the pier. "Sure, if you can find me a park bench."

Laura pointed to a metal abutment a few yards ahead. When the got there Jen eyed the three foot block of metal. "Right. Lemme just hop up there…"

"Sergeant?" Laura tipped her head towards Jimmy.

"Ma'am." Jimmy glanced at Laura then stepped to Jen, scooping her up and seating her on the top of the metal structure. He released her quickly and stepped back.

"Well." Jen blinked. "That was unexpected."

Laura hopped up beside Jen. "Better?"

"A little." Jen rubbed her lower back and grimaced.

Laura leaned closer. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Jen frowned. "I'm fine. I just have a cramp in my back."

"Move." Laura wacked Jen's hands away and maneuvered herself around in behind her friend. Using her thumbs she lightly massaged Jen's lower back.

Jen let out a little groan and leaned forward.

Laura waved Jimmy closer. Jen grabbed his shoulder to keep herself from sliding forwards while Laura worked the muscles along her lower back.

"Better?" Laura asked after a few minutes.

Jen sighed and straightened. "Much." She smiled at Jimmy and patted his shoulder. "Down, please."

Jimmy snorted and put his hands beneath her arms while she slid forward. Laura hopped off and the trio started off again. After another minute Jen stopped, the cramping once again twisting through her lower back. She exhaled sharply.

"Okay maybe we should call you a cab…" Laura suggested.

"I'm fine." Jen argued. "I just need a minute."

Laura looked down the length of the pier they still had yet to travel. "At this rate it will be next week before we get back to the tower."

"I said, I'm fine." Jen glared at her.

"And I say you're not." Laura said firmly.

"I'm the doctor. And I say I'm fine."

"And I'm the coherent one, and I say you're not."

"You're coherent." Jen scowled.

"Yeah. I am, little Miss Hormone, and I say we call you a cab."

Jen leaned forward and jabbed Laura in the shoulder with her index finger. "And I say…"

Laura crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. "Yeah? You say what?"

"Oh shit."

"You say wh…oh shit?" Laura raised an eyebrow.

"Shit." Jen reached up and grabbed Laura's arms. "Shit, shit, shit."

"What…" Laura reached for her friend. "What? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Shit," was all Jen could manage to say.

"Um…Lieutenant?" Jimmy stepped forward.

Laura glared at him. "What!"

The young Sergeant pointed to the puddle on the ground between Jen's feet. "I think her water just broke."

Laura looked down, then back up to Jen, then back down again.

"Shit!"


	30. Chapter 30

"Major Lorne, this is Sergeant Porter."

Evan scribbled his signature across the bottom of the requisition form then tapped his com. "Go ahead, Sergeant."

When Jimmy didn't immediately answer, Evan paused his reach for the next report. "Sergeant?"

"Uh, Sir. Yes. Sir…"

Evan frowned. He could hear two women arguing in the background, but he couldn't make out what was being said.

"Sergeant? Where are you?"

"The middle of the west pier, Sir."

"Who's with you?"

"Lieutenant Cadman and Dr. Keller, Sir."

_Keller and Cadman._ Evan sighed. Right. Porter was on Doc Duty this morning. _Now what?_ "Do I want to know what they're fighting about this time?" he asked, even though he really, really did not want to know the answer. Every time those two would get into an argument the entire city would have to deal the fall out. Having a grumpy CMO was a painful experience for anyone visiting the infirmary, and no one in their right mind _ever_ wanted Laura Cadman in a bad mood. It was well documented fact that the consequences of an angry Cadman were directly measurable against the size of her explosions.

"Uh, yes Sir."

Evan momentarily forgot what he'd asked. "Yes, I do want to know what they're fighting about?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Sergeant?" Evan rolled his neck left then right, hoping to keep the tension creeping up his shoulders away from his skull.

"Yes, Sir?"

"_What_ are they fighting about?" In the background Evan could now distinctly hear screeching. Screeching was a bad, bad sign. Screeching meant that Laura had just set the Doc off. He pushed himself up out of his chair and headed for the hallway, cursing Sheppard for taking his team to 993. Ronon was pretty much the only person besides Laura who could calm the Doc down with any kind of speed. And if Ronon was gone, and Laura the _cause_ of the screeching, Evan was going to have his hands full. "Can't you separate them or something?"

"No, Sir." Jimmy paused. "Uh, Sir?"

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"I think we're going to need that taxi now."

Evan stopped so suddenly he nearly stumbled. Snapping himself up right he stared down the length of the empty corridor. "You need a _what_!"

"Taxi, Sir."

"Sergeant…" Evan warned, his pace increasing with each word. "You do realize what it is you're saying, right?"

"Sir. Yes, Sir. _Taxi_, Sir."

Evan swore and broke into a full out run down the corridor. "Sergeant, please tell me this isn't some kind of joke."

"No, Sir." Jimmy answered firmly. "No joke, Sir. We are definitely in need of a taxi."

_Taxi_.

The damn code word. Each person assigned to Dr. Keller had the word religiously drilled into their head in every document, memo, briefing and debriefing for the last ten days. If there was any chance—even a _suspicion_ that Dr. Keller was going into labour—the escort was to request a 'taxi'.

Evan careened around the corner, nearly slamming into an unsuspecting botanist. Spinning to the side to avoid crushing both the man and his fern, Evan bounced off a post with a grunt and a curse and leapt towards the transporter.

"Sergeant, whatever you do…don't upset her!"

"Upset her, Sir?"

"And get her away from Cadman!" Evan slid to a stop inside the transporter and jammed his finger on the location nearest the control tower.

"I don't really think that's going to be possible, Sir."

Evan jumped out of the transporter and sprinted towards the jumper bay. Rounding the last corner he had to stutter step sideways to avoid being sandwiched between an equally fast moving Ellis and Browne. He wasn't all that surprised to see them.

"Sanchez?" he asked as the trio ran down the hallway.

"Already in the jumper." Ellis acknowledged.

Rounding the corner of the jumper bay they made a beeline for the open hatch of Jumper three.

Sanchez hopped up out of the pilots seat letting Evan take the controls. Browne closed the rear hatch and followed Ellis to the front. Evan triggered the roof access and lifted the jumper into the sunshine.

"Are we sure?" Ellis asked, leaning into the middle of the aisle.

"God, I hope not." Evan muttered. He guided the jumper around and down between several central support towers, taking the most direct route to the west side of the city.

"She's early. They're not supposed to come early." Sanchez shook his head.

"Who made you a doctor?" Ellis snorted.

"I'm just saying…" Sanchez leaned closer to the console and peered out the front window as they neared the trio standing below. Laura and Jen were in the midst of a heated argument, arms waving and fingers pointing, and Sergeant Porter was standing beside them, ducking the occasional flailing arm.

Evan spun the jumper around and landed. By the time he got to his feet, Browne already had the hatch lowered.

Sergeant Porter didn't seem surprised to see Evan's entire team. If anything, Evan thought, he looked damn relieved.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Evan shouted and jumped between the two women, grabbing Laura's wrist before on of her accenting swings cracked him in the side of the head. "Enough!" With his hand still holding Laura's wrist, he wasn't able to deflect Jen when she lurched for him.

Fisting her hands into the front of his shirt she hauled him forward with a strength that surprised him. "It's not time!" she yelled. "Not now, do you hear me! Not now!"

Evan let go of Laura's arm and reached for Jen's hands. "Whoa, hey there Doc. How about we calm down."

"She can't calm down!" Laura shouted, grabbing Evan's arm and spinning him to face her. "She's having a baby!"

"I am not!" Jen grabbed Evan's other arm and tugged him back to face her. "I am _not_ having a baby."

"She is!" Laura yanked his arm.

"No, I'm not!" Jen pulled from her side.

"Okay enough!" Evan pulled his arms together, bring both women shoulder-to-shoulder in front of him. "_Are_ you having the baby?" he looked directly at Jen.

"No." She said firmly.

"Yes." Laura said at the same time.

"It's a mistake!" Jen glared at Laura.

"It is not a mistake. You can't just have a mistake like that!" Laura retorted.

"Uh, Sir?" Porter leaned closer, his voice loud to be heard over the arguing.

"What!" Evan shouted then winced at his loss of cool. Keeping one hand on Laura's wrist and the other on Jen's, he turned his head towards the Sergeant, who was standing behind him. "Yes, Sergeant?" he tried again, his voice lower and reasonably calmer.

"Her water broke."

"What!" Evan shouted into the sudden silence, making the Sergeant wince.

Porter took a single step back and pointed to the ground near his feet. "Uh… her water broke?"

Evan spun around to Jen, who was staring at him wide-eyed. Then he looked down. Then looked back up. "Shit!"

"That's what I said!" Laura's head bobbed up and down in agreement.

"You two get in the jumper and sit." Even hooked his arm through Jen's and guided her forward.

"But…"

"No." Evan interrupted Jen. He angled her into a seat in the back of the jumper. "Sit."

"But…"

"Sit!"

Ignoring her glare he turned towards Laura and pointed to the empty seat on Jen's right. "She doesn't move. And neither do you."

Laura sat.

The others filed quickly into the back of the jumper. Ellis triggered the hatch then dropped into the empty chair on Jen's right. Browne and Sanchez took positions across the aisle with Sergeant Porter.

"Is it really time?" Ellis leaned closer to Jen.

Evan paused his dash to the cockpit and turned around. Everyone held their breath while they waited for Jen to answer.

"Oh god…" she groaned and rubbed her abdomen. "FINE! Yes! Yes, it's really time."

Smiles and congratulations erupted. Evan spun back towards the pilots seat, urging the jumper into the air. Party later. Worry now.

He keyed his com. "Major Lorne to Major Teldy."

Major Anne Teldy answered almost immediately.

"Assemble your team and meet me in the jumper bay. Priority 1."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later Evan waited alone in the jumper bay for Major Teldy.

He'd sent Jen to the infirmary under escort. She refused to wait for a nurse with a wheelchair, so he'd ordered Sanchez, Ellis, Browne and Porter to escort her directly there. If she deviated in any way, shape, or form, they were to carry her.

Out of earshot of Jen and Laura, Evan also reminded the four men that as of thirty minutes ago, Jennifer was officially relieved of duty until after the child was born and she was cleared for duty. And as such she could not pull the CMO card to over rule Evan's orders. Then he reminded the men to keep a sharp eye on Lieutenant Cadman, who was acting uncharacteristically emotional and over protective.

By the time he left to meet the Major he wasn't sure if the men were more worried about the pregnant woman who was cursing them for their insistence she go directly to the infirmary, or the over-excited explosives expert who wouldn't stop chattering.

When Teldy's team arrived he gave them the abridged version.

"Dr. Keller has gone into early labour. I need you to take a jumper to 368 and retrieve Dr. Beckett. Tell him he's now acting CMO of Atlantis and needs to get his ass back here and deliver a baby."

Major Teldy grinned as she ushered her team into the nearest Jumper. "We'll be back with Dr. Beckett before you can say c-section," she called out.

"Don't even _think_ it." Evan rolled his eyes as the hatch on the jumper closed.

Three weeks early.

This was not how this was supposed to go.

Ellis entered the jumper bay, followed by Sanchez, Browne and Porter. "One angry doctor delivered to the infirmary."

"How'd she take it?" Evan asked warily.

Sanchez shook his head. "About as well as expected. Until Marie saw her…" The captain grinned. "She threatened Cadman with restraints and the Doc with _no_ epidural if the two of them didn't cut it out."

"And it worked?" Evan blinked, accepting a new appreciation of Jen's head nurse.

Browne nodded. "It worked."

"But we stationed two security teams in there anyway." Ellis added with a smile.

Evan nodded. "Good. Now gear up. You four are going to 993."

"SGA1?" Ellis asked.

Evan nodded.

"All of us, Sir?" Porter questioned.

"Yes, Sergeant." Evan nodded at the young man. "You aren't claustrophobic or anything, are you?"

"Claustrophobic?" Jimmy frowned and shook his head. "No, Sir."

"Good. Because your first trip off world is to the catacombs on Amelton. Deep, dark, and if you believe Dr. McKay, the location of an ancient research facility. Radio's don't work in the tunnels so you're going to have to track them down the old fashioned way."

"Old fashioned way?" Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

Ellis clamped Jimmy on the shoulder. "How's your yodeling?"

"My what?"

Evan snorted. "Just gear up and go. You can torment the new-guy when you're on the other side of the gate."

"Hear that?" Sanchez elbowed Browne as the group moved into the corridor. "He said we can torment the new guy."

"I said, GO!" Evan ordered, his command sending the four down the hallway double-time. "I need a raise," he muttered, checking his watch. Changing direction he headed for the mess hall. If he didn't eat now, he hightly doubted he was going to get the opportunty for a long, long time.

There was absolutely no doubt in Evan's mind it was about to be one of those days.


	31. Chapter 31

**Sorry for the delay -- it's been a crazy couple of weeks! But as promised, here's the next chapter! :) Almost baby time!**

* * *

"It's been two hours. How much further do you think they are?" Sergeant Porter asked as he twisted through a narrow opening in the cavern wall. Eying the low hanging ceiling, he stepped out into a wider section, joining Lieutenant Ellis.

"That depends." Ellis said, shining his flashlight on the ground in front of him.

"Depends on what?" Jimmy asked.

"On whether or not the Colonel took directions from McKay, or Ronon." Captain Sanchez chimed in as he clambered through the narrow crevice.

"Right." Jimmy frowned.

Browne followed Sanchez through the opening and glanced at the scanner in his hand.

"Anything?" Sanchez asked.

Browne shook his head. "Nothing yet." He looked at Ellis. "How about you?"

Ellis grinned. "Well lucky for us, McKay leaves a hell of a trail." He aimed his light at a tunnel opening to his left. "This way."

Twenty minutes and several backtracking turns later the foursome faced a metal door, set deep into a rocky recess.

"Well that's unexpected." Sanchez tilted his head.

Using flashlights, Ellis and Browne scanned the walls, looking for a control panel or access for opening the door. Giving up they returned to the front. The four men stared at the door.

"So now what?" Porter glanced at the men on either side.

Sanchez turned to Ellis and made a fist. "Rock, paper scissors?"

Ellis held up his hand, curling his fingers. On a three count they revealed their choices. Scissors for Sanchez, rock for Ellis. Ellis grinned and stepped towards the door.

"What's he doing?" Jimmy turned to Browne.

"Opening the door." Browne replied, shifting his P90 higher and aiming it at the door.

Sanchez took up a position to the side, covering Ellis and the far side of the door.

"By playing Rock Paper Scissors?" Jimmy's brow furrowed as he matched Browne's tense position, aiming at the closed door.

"No." Browne braced his legs. "By knocking."

Ellis balanced his P90 in one hand and rapped his knuckles against the metal. He tapped three short, three long, three short. Then he jumped back and aimed at the door. The four men held their breath. A sharp clang of metal echoed through the cavern. Each man straightened and stepped back, aiming at the opening as the door swung outwards. Light burst from the other side of the doorway, flooding the dark tavern.

Sheppard's voice echoed sharply from somewhere on the other side of the door. "Ellis?"

"Sir." Ellis replied, and lowered his weapon. The four men stepped towards the open doorway. On the other side, Teyla, Ronon, John and Rodney all lowered their weapons.

John walked forward. "Where's Major Lorne?"

"Still in the city, Sir." Sanchez stepped forward.

"I take it this isn't a social call?" John asked the captain.

"No, Sir. We just came to get Ronon."

"Me?" Ronon stepped forward.

Sanchez nodded. "Yes, Sir. It's time."

"What?" Ronon practically shouted. "Now?"

"Now." Ellis nodded.

"Are you sure?" John stepped forward. "It's three weeks early!"

"What's three weeks early?" Rodney asked.

"The baby." Browne answered.

"What baby?" Rodney frowned.

"Ronon's baby." John rolled his eyes and turned towards the scientist.

"Ro…" Rodney's eyes widened. "Ronon? You mean Jennifer is…but…but she's not due for another three weeks!"

"Well apparently the baby didn't want to wait." Ellis shrugged. "Her water broke about three hours ago."

"Three hours!" Rodney shook his head. "What the hell took you so long? A lot could happen in three hours! We need to get…" he turned to his right, then his left, then spun in a circle. "Where's Ronon? And Teyla?"

Towards the back of the cavern Teyla stepped out from behind a large outcropping. "Are you coming?"

"Ronon?" John asked.

"Headed to the jumper." Teyla smiled. "He seemed a little…anxious…to be on his way."

John snorted. "Apparently."

* * *

"God damn it this freekin hurts!" Jen cursed and bent at the waist. Gripping the edges of the counter she groaned and closed her eyes, waiting for the contraction to pass.

"Breathe, Keller." Laura ordered, gripping Jen's upper arm.

"You breathe!" Jen hissed. After the pain subsided she straightened with Laura's help.

"Maybe you should sit down." Laura suggested.

"Sit, stand, walk, lay." Jen wobbled forward, moving a slow pacing circle around the outside corridor of the infirmary. "Would you make up your damn mind?!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who wanted to go on a walk-about." Laura scowled.

"Oh shut it." Jen frowned, rubbing her lower back.

* * *

"You know they should really tell you it hurts this much."

Laura snorted. "I'm pretty sure just about every woman in the damn universe knows it hurts."

"There's a big difference between _pain_ and holy-shit-kill-me-now _agony_ tearing through your lower body! Lemme see how much you like having your womb trying to climb out through your vagina!"

"No thanks." Laura blanched. "I'm good."

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Laura cursed, her head twisted back and to the side. She slumped over in the chair, being dragged towards Jen who was bent over in the chair beside her.

On the floor in front of the two women, Evan grabbed for Jen's arm, trying to extract Laura's braid from the deadly grip the doctor had on it. But all he could manage to do was lift Jen's hand so Laura's head wasn't at such an awkward angle.

"Next time give her your hand, not your hair!" Evan exclaimed, as Jen muttered curses through the pain.

"Are you kidding?" Laura exclaimed. "I'm not letting her hold anything! She's like the freekin hulk on drugs here! Ow! Ow! How was I supposed to know she'd just snatch at whatever she could get her hands on! Ow!"

"Well you know now." Evan chastised.

* * *

"I think she broke my hand." Evan cursed, wriggling his fingers.

"It's not broken." Laura shook her head slowly. "I told you not to give her your hand."

"Yeah well how was I supposed to know she's channeling Ronon?"

"I'm going to channel Ronon's blaster on both of you if you don't shut up…" Jen mumbled into her pillow.

* * *

"I want drugs."

"You can't have any yet." Laura answered.

"I'm the Doctor, and if I say I want drugs, I want drugs!"

"You know the rules, you told me so yourself." The lieutenant leaned closer to the bed.

"I don't freekin care!"

"Well I do!"

"Well I don't!"

"All right you two…" Marie stepped into the room. "If you don't keep it down I'll have to separate you. You're scaring the other patients."

"The other patients can kiss my aaa--!" Jen shouted as another contraction tore through her. Lying on her side on the bed she gripped the railing and squeezed, her knuckles turning white. When the pain subsided she slumped against the pillows, breathing hard.

* * *

"There's my wee lass!" Carson exclaimed, a wide grin breaking across his face as he rushed into the room. "How's my girl?"

"Your girl wants drugs." Laura smirked.

"I'm going to kill you." Jen rolled her head and glared at her friend.

"Now now…" Carson patted Jen on the shoulder. "There'll be no talk of that." He turned and closed the door to the private room. "Now let's see how far along ya' are, shall we?"

"Dear god I'm a beached whale…" she muttered, unable to roll over. With help from Marie and Laura, Jen flopped onto her back.

Carson took a quick peek beneath the hem of her hospital gown. "Aye lass." He straightened and dropped the cloth. "Ye'r already five centimeters."

"What!" She lurched up, fighting to get her arms behind her so she could push herself higher. "What do you mean five!"

"That's good, right?" Laura asked.

Jen grabbed a fistful of Laura's jacket and yanked the Lieutenant towards the bed. "It's not good! It's small! I don't want five! I want more!"

Laura fought with Jen's fingers, trying to extract herself from the tight grip.

Carson stepped around the bed and worked at Jen's hand, releasing Laura who fell back into her chair with an ungraceful plop. "Now Jennifer….we all know these things take time."

"Time! I don't have time! I want…I want…oh hell!" Her shout turned into a guttural growl as another contraction stole her voice.

Carson kept his eye on his watch, waiting for the pain to subside. "Right on schedule." He smiled at Jen.

"I…want…drugs…" she hissed through her teeth as the contraction faded and she collapsed back against the bed.

"Aye, Lass. And I'd give them to you if I could. But we both know there isn't enough information in the database about Satedan babies to make a case against any potential harm they could do."

"Carson!" Jen wailed.

The doctor shook his head and backed away from the bed. "I'll be back to check on you in a wee bit. In the mean time you might want to try resting between contractions instead of trying to strangle your best friend."

* * *

"Okay." John exhaled, only slightly winded from the speed-hike through the caverns. He strode up the ramp into the back of the jumper, sidestepping Ronon who was pacing a two step path back and forth in the cargo area. He dropped into the pilot's seat and triggered the rear hatch to close.

"What about the others?" Teyla asked from her position in the co-pilots seat.

"Sanchez will pack up McKay and his gear." John glanced over his shoulder at the man in the rear compartment. "I figured it might be more dangerous to make Chewy wait any longer."

Ronon grunted. Sat. Stood. Then resumed his pacing.

"Wise choice." Teyla mouthed.

John nodded and lifted the jumper into the air. "Okay Daddy, let's get you back to the city pronto."

Ronon cursed and froze mid step. Then he turned and sat hard into one of the empty seats.

"Hey buddy, you okay back there?" John asked, glancing at the big man.

"Daddy?" Ronon exhaled, shaking his head slowly side to side. "Daddy." He muttered. "Daddy." Then he dropped his head into his hands and fell silent.

John and Teyla shared a glance. The Athosian was fighting a smile. John spun back towards the front display and broke out into a wide grin as he dialed the gate.

Ronon was going to be a daddy.


	32. Chapter 32

Ronon left a scattered pile of clothing and weaponry from the door of his quarters to the bathroom. In his haste to "clean himself up" as Marie had so firmly put it, he'd dropped everything where he'd been standing. Except his blaster. That he'd tossed to Sheppard for safe keeping.

"Jeeze, buddy…" he heard the Colonel's exclamation over the sound of the shower. "You always carry this much hardware?"

Ronon snorted and swiped the water out of his eyes. He could hear the distinctive clatter of his knives hitting the top of his dresser. Scrambling for the soap he hurried to clean the cavern dust off his skin.

They'd hit the ground running the minute the jumper hit the floor of the service bay. In his haste to reach the infirmary, Ronon had take the corridor at a full out run—Sheppard and Teyla directly behind him. Careening around corners, they'd barely avoided serious injuries to a unit of fresh recruits, a botanist, three scientists and Dr. Zelenka. Although the flowering plant the botanist had been carrying was left in less than ideal condition when Ronon had spun around the terrified woman with the white lab-coat…and Sheppard hadn't.

He'd slid to a stop inside the infirmary doors and had promptly been ordered back outside again by Marie, who threatened to shoot him with his own blaster if he didn't get his 'ass' into the shower and clean himself up before stepping one foot into _her_ delivery room. He was halfway to his own quarters before he realized he'd left without arguing with her.

That was probably not a good show of force to the rest of the infirmary staff.

Although he'd get Sheppard back later for his comment about not even being a Dad yet and he was already getting soft...

Rinsing the soap off his face, Ronon slammed the water control off and hopped out of the shower, catching the towel Sheppard threw at his face. He slapped at his skin with the soft cloth, missing everything and not caring. Tossing the towel onto the floor he struggled to pull clean clothes over his wet skin.

In front of his door, Sheppard paced a three stride path.

"You're making me nervous…" Ronon growled. He dropped onto the edge of his bet and jammed his foot into his boot.

The Colonel stopped, then pointed to the floor. "Wrong foot."

Ronon cursed and yanked the uncomfortable thing off his foot and grabbed the correct one. Lacing his boots he jumped to his feet.

Sheppard swiped the door control and they ran into the corridor. This time the run was surprisingly quiet.

"Where is everyone?" Ronon called out over his shoulder as he slid into the open doors of a waiting transporter.

Teyla, who'd been keeping the transporter free, slipped in beside him. John slammed to a stop against the back wall and jabbed his thumb on the location next to the infirmary.

"Temporary lockdown." He smirked when Ronon gave him a curious glance. "Seemed easier than explaining to your wife why we injured half the city in our haste to get you to the delivery on time."

The trio sprinted out through the open doors.

When they finally reached the infirmary, John keyed his com. "This is Colonel Sheppard. Thank you for your co-operation. Daddy-to-be has been safely delivered to the infirmary. Corridors are free to use."

Teyla grinned at Marie as the head nurse hurried forward. "He is all yours."

Marie stepped beside Ronon and gave him a shove further in past the beds. "This way."

Ronon took a step forward then hesitated when a fever pitched string of curses echoed from the back of the infirmary. It was immediately followed by a loud growling shout.

"Is that…Jennifer?" Teyla raised both eyebrows.

Marie nodded. She gave Colonel Sheppard a half frown. "She's learned a few new words from the Marine's, apparently."

"Uh…" John stopped when they reached the outer doors leading to the private rooms. "Maybe I'll just wait here."

"Smart man," Marie winked at the Colonel as she swiped her hand over the access door.

"As will I." Teyla smiled. She gave Ronon a gentle shove when he hesitated in the doorway.

He stepped forward, trepidation and worry rolling his stomach as the doors slid closed behind him. The corridor was dark, stretching out in front of him like a long tunnel. The only closed door was half way down the hallway, but the dark metal did nothing to muffle the next burst of swearing.

"Come on." Marie urged, grabbing his wrist and propelling him forward. "It's almost time." She dropped her hand in front of the sensor and the doors slid back.

Ronon stepped into the room, and stopped dead.

In the corner, Jennfer—his quiet little Jennifier—was lying on her back with her feet in stirrups. Her body was bare from the waist down, the top half barely covered by a hospital gown. To one side of her, Major Lorne was attempting to pry her fingers out of the front of his shirt while she hauled him down towards the side of the bed. On the other side, Lieutenant Cadman was either arm wrestling with Jennifer, or attempting to extract the fingers of her left hand from Jennifer's tight grip.

"I'm done!" Jen was saying, giving Evan's shirt a punctuating pull. "I'm done. I'm not doing this any more!"

"C'mon Jen," Evan tried to smile. "You're doing great."

"If you want it so much then _you_ do it!" she retorted, her voice coming in short, bursting pants. "Because I'm done! Done, you hear me! Finished. I'm done. Take me home!" Then she cursed and arched her back. Leaping forward again, Laura and Evan slid their arms in behind her back and lifted her up, bending her forward while she exhaled a loud, guttural yell.

"Aye Lass! That's it!" Dr. Beckett, from his position between Jennifer's bare legs, nodded his encouragement. "Push, lass, push!"

Jen collapsed back against her helper's arms, and Laura and Evan quickly lay her back down.

Her breath was coming in gasping wheezes and she was shaking her head back and forth. "I'm done…I'm done…" she chanted. "I can't do this any more…"

"Ahh! There he is!" Carson almost shouted.

Ronon jerked when Marie prodded him. Partly shocked because he had absolutely no idea what alternate reality he'd just stepped in to, and partly because he'd wasn't exactly the size of person to go unnoticed for so long.

Jen rolled her head and stared at him. "What the hell took you so long! I'm going to ki—god damn it!" She screamed while Laura and Evan lifted her up again.

"Push lass!" Carson shouted. "That's it! I can see the head!" He grinned. "Do you want to see the head?"

"No!" Jen shrieked, flopping back against the bed. "I don't…want…to see…the damn…head…just…get…it…the fu…gaaaa!" Evan and Laura lifted her up again.

Ronon stepped closer, the urge to protect her, help her, drowning with the fear that he had absolutely no idea what to do. He turned to Marie. "Why aren't you helping?"

"I tried." She smiled and patted his arm as though he were a child. "She wouldn't let go of those two."

Ronon turned back to where Evan and Laura were holding Jen upright while she screamed curses…and he realized with a start she was glaring at him when she said it.

"Don't worry." Marie whispered. "They always do that."

"Push lass!" Carson ordered. "Push, push, push!"

Marie left Ronon's side to help Carson. The next few moments passed in a blur. Jennifer didn't stop her guttural shouting. Laura and Evan held her upright. Carson chanted orders. At some point he'd replaced Laura at Jennifer's side, holding his wife while she struggled to push their child into the world.

With a triumphant cry from Carson, Jennifer collapsed against Ronon's chest. It felt as though the city herself was holding her breath until the newest arrival added a tiny, wailing cry to the mix.

"Aye, it's a girl!" Carson announced, his eyes brimming with moisture as he tenderly lifted the tiny infant in his arms. "A wee baby girl…"

_Girl._

_Daughter._

Things looked a little blurry to Ronon as he watched the doctor setting the tiny, wriggling babe on Jennifer's stomach. He swiped the back of his hand across his eyes and the room clarified. Carson called to him.

"Cut the cord, son."

Ronon blinked. Pressure on his right shoulder turned his head. Major Lorne, still seated on the other side of the bed, smiled and angled his head towards Carson. "On Earth, it's tradition for the father to cut the umbilical cord. Go. I've got them."

"Tradition?" Ronon glanced down. In Jennifer's eyes he saw exhaustion, relief, and love. She nodded and smiled, tears shining her cheeks as she looked down at the squealing infant.

Ronon eased Jen back against the pillows, guiding her gently back to where the Major's hands took over. With a quick glance to the naked babe and her mother, he stood and moved towards Carson, who held up a shining silver blade.

"Uh, doctor?" Marie frowned at the non-surgical knife.

"It's sterilized." Carson tisked and handed Ronon the small dagger. "And much more appropriate."

On the bed, Jen let out a soft laugh while Ronon completed the task. Marie whisked the child away to Ronon's dismay, but Jennifer's hand on his arm stayed him. "They need to clean…weigh her…it's okay."

He returned to his position at her side. She clasped his hand, but her grip was loose. He knew she had to be completely exhausted. She looked spent. Tired. Beautiful and wonderful and a thousand other words he couldn't voice.

His wife.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Fussing, Carson reaseated the hospital gown down over Jen's legs. Marie appeared, the baby wrapped snugly in a white blanket, her tiny head covered in a knit cap. The nurse bent and set the infant in her mother's arms. Jen's trembling fingers peeled the edge of the blanket away from the scrunched little face.

"Ten fingers, ten toes, and absolutely perfect." Marie said softly as she stepped back to join Carson near the foot of the bed.

To the side, Evan was joined by Laura. "You did good, kid." The Lieutenant said softly.

"Yeah…" Jen smiled and looked up at Ronon. "We did, huh."

He couldn't speak, so he simply nodded.

Laura slipped her arm around the Major's waist and leaned against him. Ronon watch Evan's excitement flow over as he grabbed the Lieutenant and swung her in an arcing circle beside the bed. She giggled when he put her down and they both turned back towards the family.

"So?" Laura smiled. "Name?"

Jen broke out into a wide grin, and looked up at him. Ronon nodded, his gaze dropping to the baby. His baby. His daughter. "Elizabeth," he said firmly. Then he lowered his voice. "Elizabeth Lantea Dex." The little one scrunched up her face in response, her eyes blinking open then closing again.

"Elizabeth I love and understand..." Maria smiled. "But, Lantea?"

Jen nodded. "It seemed…appropriate."

"Aye, it's perfect!" Carson exclaimed.

"Can I tell them?" Laura asked. "Please, please, please?"

Ronon saw the hopeful grin and deferred to Jennifer. Tucked in against his side, Jen nodded. "Yes, you can tell them."

Laura whooped and grabbed Evan's hand, dragging the Major towards the door. A few moments later, John's voice came across the city wide speakers.

"Attention all staff, this is Colonel Sheppard. I just thought you all might like to know that our newest expedition member has arrived. Weighing in at a whopping six pounds nine ounces, with all the appropriate parts and pieces…please welcome…Elizabeth Lantea Dex." There was a brief pause to allow for the whooping going on in the background before John continued. "Briefing on protection detail begins at oh-eight-hundred for all teams."

He cut the transmission as laughter erupted. Jen rolled her eyes and looked up at Ronon. "Please tell me that wasn't your idea?"

He smiled down at his wife and daughter.

Damn right it had been his idea.

But he wasn't going to admit it.

Or tell her every Marine and Pilot in the city had agreed without protest.

As had her entire staff.

And all the scientists, botanists, engineers and support staff right down to the janitors.

It had been the easiest policy change Richard Woolsey had ever had to sign off on.

* * *

EPILOGUE

A FEW WEEKS LATER

Ronon paused outside the door of his new quarters, exhaustion settling into his bones. It had been an abrupt call to rescue a small village from an approaching Wraith culling that dragged him out of bed two nights ago and he hadn't slept since.

He knew, by the position of the afternoon sun, that the room inside would be quiet. Elizabeth—his little Ellie—had quickly settled into a routine that put her afternoon nap right about now.

Swiping his hand across the door access, he stepped quietly into the main living area of the oversized quarters. The large windows in front of him showed the silver spires of the city towers sparkling beneath the wide blue sky. They'd chosen these quarters for their location close to the infirmary for when Jennifer returned to work, and the natural light the floor to ceiling windows would let in. To the right was the corridor to the two bedrooms. He didn't have to look in the one they'd decorated as a nursery to know Jennifer would not have left Ellie to nap there alone.

Instead he turned to the left and stopped in the doorway of the larger room. Leaning against the doorway, his exhaustion was forgotten as he watched the two women in his life, curled together on top of the bedding.

Without taking his gaze off the bed, he reached down and unthreaded the laces on his boots. Toeing them off, he carefully removed his blaster and holster and set it on the top of the high dresser inside the door. He added his concealed knives to the pile.

Stepping softly forward, he eased onto the bed. Settling onto his side, he grinned to realize it wasn't the babe who apparently needed the nap—but his wife.

Jennifer lay curled on her side next to their baby daughter, her chest rising and falling in a smooth, steady rhythm. She stirred, mumbled something in her sleep, then settled down when Ronon rubbed his hand across the top of her head, smoothing her hair. In front of her, arms and feet jerking to an internal rhythm, Ellie made faces, her bright blue eyes staring up at the colored patterns on the ceiling. He reached out, sliding his pinky against her tiny hand. He grinned when she wrapped her fingers around his pinky and jerked.

With a snort he settled back against the pillows.

At three o'clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday, Ronon Dex, Specialist and warrior, opted to forgo a mission debriefing with his team and the city commander for afternoon nap time.

He'd fill in the paperwork later.

Because right now, he was needed here.

Around them, the city sighed her approval.

.

.

.

THE END

?

.

.

**Author's Note ---** It's with mixed feelings I leave this story!!! I think part of the hesitation I had in posting the ending was in finishing the story. I had so much fun with this one that I'm terribly sad to see it go!!! But fear not, fair readers. I'll still be around! I'm going to be busy for the summer, but between the promo stuff I have to do for my book, and writing the new one, I'll be posting some SGA one offs and one-shots. And YES I hope to revisit this at some point with a look into life with Ellie. :) There's so much potential for meyhem with a little girl with Jen's luck and Ronon's penchant for ask questions later! I feel sorry for the city after Auntie Laura finishes babysitting. :P Hugs to everyone, and I'm really glad you all came along on this little ride! - Nika


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